Outstanding balance because of Eviction

by Brandi
(Austin, Tx, USA)

I was evicted from an apartment that I lived in with a room mate in August of 2010. The apartment complex management did not submit the paper work saying I had been evicted & owed money until August of 2011. My ex roommate was not contacted until early September about the outstanding balance of $2,100+. A payment of $100 was made by my roommate in late September. I was not contacted about any of this & had to get the number for the collection agency from my ex roommate in order to talk to anyone. The person I spoke with told me that multiple attempts to contact me by phone & mail were made. I never recieved any phone calls. They said that the collection notices sent by mail were returned to them, which should not be the case because I had my address changed as soon as I moved to my current address & the apartment I moved into just after the eviction has my current address as well. Recieved another phone call today from a collection agency, the individual tried to get me to have a friend/family member put it on their credit card so I could pay the person who put it on their credit card. When I told him nobody I knew would do that, he said if my room mate & I could both pay $100 a month (totaling $200 a month) for three months, they would work out a plan with us at the end of the three months. My ex room mate says she can pay off the debt starting in December when her school loan is paid off. I have read somewhere that after a payment is made, the collection agency will have no right to try to take you to court for six months. Is this true? And what can I do?