So I got a letter in the mail.....

[Beestie]

Get a copy of your credit report. See if the item is listed. If not, they don't have your SS#. And you certainly won't be sharing with them.

But you should also know that the dentist sold the receivable to this agency - since its been so long, I think its been sold, re-sold and sold again. To be clear, the dentist is NOT who you are paying when you pay the agency - he sold the right to collect the money to a company who specializes in collecting overdue payments so he's out of the picture.

And to me, there is an interesting legal question here. If you owe the dentist and the dentist sells the "IOU" does that trigger an obligation for you to pay the agency instead of the dentist? I actually think not because you would have to consent to it. And I'm guessing you didn't.

Just for fun, call the dentist and tell them that you would like to take care of this bill and tell them when it was. I bet they have no record of it.