Expert: Ray A Miller - 3/5/2011

Question
I received a letter from TXU stating that i owed them for a bill at an old address. The dates for the bill that the electricity was charged, I was not occupying the residence.

I called TXU and they told me that I could have more than one account in my name and that they received a letter from the resident there stating that this was my bill. I was then told that in order for them to investigate this,I would have to send proof that this was not my bill.

I sent a copy of the lease with the residents name and info that were living at the residence at that time, copies of receipts of their down-payment and rent payments, even a letter from the landlord stating that she was renting the property to the resident at that time.

I also sent copies of bills that i was currently paying with the new address that I moved to. Also sent a copy of the moving service bill with the date stating i had moved from this location the year before the bill in question.

During this time, I had my own service through TXU at my current residence.This is the same service that was transferred when i moved. I was current on my TXU electric bill when i received this letter.

I was never told that if i didnt pay the bill, even though it is under investigation, that my electricity will be shut off. I never received the results from the investigation.
My electricity was then shut off because I didnt pay the bill that was under investigation.

Since then, this bill has been put on my credit. I sent all the info they asked of me. It is UNACCEPTABLE that a complete stranger is able to write a letter and pawn their bill onto someone else!!!!!!!!!

4 months prior to this i delivered my daughter.. We had to replace perishables and her foods and milk. We also had to move in with relatives until we could find another electric provider..

Can anything be done about this??

Answer
The first thing to do is to write a letter to the 3 major credit reporting agencies explaining what happened and placing a dispute on your account.  Copy this letter to the power company along with another one telling them that you have already proven that this was not your bill and that you expect them to remove this information from your credit history immediately.  If they do not, report this to the Public Services Commission, the BBB and Consumer Affairs.  I wish you good luck with this.