At the end of July 2008 I received a letter from Afni, Inc. stating I owed them $83.92 for unpaid services from QWEST. I complied with the Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, specifically 12-14-105 “Communication in connection with debt collection”, and 12-14-109 “Validation of debts, ” and sent Afni, Inc. a letter disputing the payment. This must be done before 30 days following the Collection Notice in order for the charges to be disputed, otherwise by not writing the letter you are assumed to be agreeing with the debt.

I only had services from Qwest once and that was in 2004 for less than one month before I cancelled the service in order to get my internet from Comcast instead. When I called Qwest about the billing telephone number on the Collections Notice, a representative stated there was no record for that number and that she believes the notice was fraudulent.

Make sure not to delay if you receive a collections notice and send a letter immediately to the collections agency. Also, make sure to notify the Federal Trade Commission that you have taken such action in order for the administrative body to correct any harm done to your credit rating.