Hi. I'm new here. Hope you guys can help me here. I'll try to keep it short.
Almost 7 years ago I went through a terrible time, divorce, lost business in the process and ended up homeless. I owe Charter($400+ now) and Pacific Power($135 still apparently). That debt went all the way to collections and they have been owned by multiple companies since then. Now, I got an incredible opportunity to get back on my feet and rent a place, even with credit messed up, but you guessed it, Pacific Power wants me to pay for the unpaid bill first before letting me use their services. I have always felt so guilty about my debt but never had the means to pay it until now. So I called Pacific Power the other day and they told me I could pay them the debt, even though they have nothing to do with it, it appears. The debt is about to expire from the credit report in less than a year, but I want to pay it as soon as possible, not only to be able to use the power service but for peace of mind. That's my debt for power I used and I must pay it. So what would you do? Who will you pay the money to? Should I contact the collection company who owns the account and pay the thing or give my credit card to Pacific Power and get it over with? The fastest route the better with the best results for my credit. If I can remove related negative entries from my credit the better. Thanks guys for any help you can give in advance.
Note: I don't even know what collection company owns my debt now. I know the one that owned it last December, but it might have changed hands since then.