Do I need to worry about an unpaid property (auto) tax bill being on my credit report?
To comment on what David is advising, I wouldn’t trust the collection agency’s promise that nothing will appear on your credit report. Tax liens stay on your report for years, and it is very, very difficult to get something off your report once it’s on there, even if it’s been added in error. Finally, the state tax board, not the collection agency, would report the tax lien to the credit reporting bureaus. If anything, I would deal directly with whoever is actually trying to recover the money, not just the collection agency they’ve hired to do it.
Pecanpies: I got the sense that the questioner wanted to make sure that s/he wouldn’t suffer (apparently unjust) negative consequences even if s/he DID pay in full. There’s no reason why the collection agency can’t promise not to report this if the amount is paid in full, which strikes me as the right outcome, if indeed the original bill never made it to hazyspring.
I’d try demanding a guarantee from the collection agency/law firm again. They usually don’t get 100% of the amount owed (they buy up these debts at a discount). If you call `em up and hem and haw about your ability to pay the full amount… but you’ll try extra-hard to pay it all if they can give you something in writing that this won’t be reported to any credit agencies… that might do the trick.
Update: I called the state directly today. Turns out I may not even owe it or owe the full amount. I have to mail them all of this documentation. Still no clear cut answer from them on the credit report, but I’m definitely not going to pay the law office. If anything, I’ll mail a check to the state.
