Bought a building a I'm getting debt collections for the prior owner

[Jason Mak]

Hello BP,

Would like your advice here.

I recently purchased a building and I just received a debt collection notice from the prior owner's AT&T cell phone bill.

The owner ordered the cell phone under the property's name and address. However, the debt collector still has the old owner's tax ID, not the tax ID of the new holding entity (mine) that holds the property.

Should I even be concerned of this debt? The credit companies only have the old owner's tax ID. Would this ever get to the stage that a lien is placed on this property?

I talked to the debt collection agency and they offered a settlement of 50% the debt which is still a pretty large sum so I'm wondering what the ramifications of skipping out on this would be.

Anyways thanks for your help,

Jason