Collections Question (I'm the tenant)

[Nick Horob]

I might be feeding the wolves here but here is my situation.

I moved out of an apartment a year ago.  I was sent a bill for $600 (on top of my $300 deposit that was kept).  While I didn't scrub everything from floor to ceiling, I left the apartment reasonably clean and I took issue with many of the property manager's charges.

I sent them a letter highlighting my issues with the charges and a check for $250.

I never heard back.  I come to find out that they recently sent my $350 outstanding balance to collections dinging my credit score pretty bad.

I wanted to work on a mutually-agreeable resolution but that obviously didn't happen.  I wish they would've at least sent me another invoice before sending me to collections.

Is there anything I can do to fix the ding on my credit score?