I’m 25 and my mother just died — and I found out she abandoned a storage unit and owes $1,800. Do I have to pay it to avoid a hit to my credit?

According to an annual survey from storage space marketplace StorageCafe, a third of Americans use a storage unit (2). Data from moving site Move.org says they can run between $70-$300 per month, depending on the size and location — an expense that's easy to forget, given that it's very literally out of sight, out of mind (3).

But what if you received a collections letter for a storage unit with your name on it that wasn't actually yours?

Let's take the example of Amita, who is 25 and recently lost her mother to cancer. She found out her mother put her name down for a storage unit, then stopped paying — which Amita learned of because collections is coming after her for the $1,800 owed.

Should she just pay it and protect her credit, or dispute it, given she had nothing to do with it? Here's what you need to know about this situation.

How storage-unit debt works

The fact that the bill has gone to collections indicates that the contents of Amita's mother's storage unit are likely gone by now.

According to Public Storage, if the sale of a storage unit's contents does not cover the debt, the remaining due goes to collections. If the auction brought in more than was owed, the company is legally required to send you a check for the difference (4). Lien processing fees are also charged to cover the cost of collections (the administrative costs of the auction (5)). The state lien laws in your area can give you more information on this (6).

Amita's first step should be to clarify her status with the storage unit company that held her mother's things.

Was she a tenant of the unit, an alternate contact attached to the account, or just a family member who has inherited this headache because she's in charge of her late mother's financial affairs?

How she should proceed will depend on what information her mother used.

If the account is actually Amita's, she will have to pay up. But if that's the case, it's likely she would have needed to go in person with her mother to open it. Storage companies require government-issued ID, contact information, a valid payment method, and sometimes a Social Security number for background checks.

Amita casts her mind back and remembers that her mother was going through a change of address when she first signed up for the unit, so she asked to give Amita's contact details, but her own credit card. Then she got sick, her finances and mail went neglected, and this posthumous paperwork nightmare was the result.

Options: Pay it, dispute it or put a hold on it

Given Amita's situation, it's best to cover all her bases as soon as possible. Waiting could cause more fees and interest to pile up.

She should call the storage company management and explain the circumstances. It would be a good idea to ask to see the paperwork, including the signature, ID on file, billing details, address, and more. This information will be critical if Amita decides to dispute the debt.

Given that her mother has passed away, the company may sympathize with the situation and work with her to resolve it. Amita will still likely need to contact the collections agency, now that the account has been passed on to them.

Depending on what the storage company says, Amita could opt to just pay the balance (especially if she can negotiate it down), to prevent further damage to her credit score. She could view it as a tough life lesson and move on. This is the quickest and easiest solution, but she'll be out $1,800.

If she does choose to fight the charge, she should contact collections immediately and send a dispute letter within 30 days. She should ask for a verification of the debt, also called a debt validation letter (7).

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), once the collection company gets the dispute letter, it must stop trying to collect until it sends a written verification of the debt, like a copy of the original bill for the amount you owe. They recommend sending via certified mail and requesting a return receipt for your records (8).