North Carolina city receives help with collections

With approximately 2,500 late water bill accounts totaling $320,000, the city of Greensboro, North Carolina, felt it had no choice but to hire a collections agency to recoup the debt, WGHP-TV reports. In addition to unpaid water bills, the city is also cracking down on parking tickets, as many serious past-due accounts have gone unaccounted for due to recent layoffs in Greensboro's collection department. Parking tickets and water bills older than 45 days will be referred to an agency beginning in January, and residents have until December 30 to make any outstanding payments. Some residents are less than thrilled. "Your family could be down to one income, and to have your name, your Social Security number and all your information go to a collection agency, it's just not fair," one Greensboro resident told the news source. According to the News & Record, the collections agency will report its collection attempts to the three major credit reporting agencies - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion - putting even more emphasis on prompt repayment. Furthermore, if an account is transferred to collections, payment plans may not be offered.