Long time lurker, I think this is my first time posting...? Maybe not. Long story short, roughly 10 years ago I was in an accident. I fell asleep at the wheel after working long hours for too long and crashed into a power pole. My insurance informed me that they covered everything and I haven't heard another word about it.

Flash forward 10 years, I'm 30 and trying to buy a house states and lives away from that old car accident. I find out about this collection account for $750 that the city filed against me and has since sent to collections.

My question is this: If I dispute that lien, is there any chance I can get that taken off my credit? I was never informed of additional money owed after the accident and never received any sort of collection notice or bill regarding the damage. Furthermore, is my credit just screwed for a while because these ass holes at the collection agency never informed me of my open account but have consistently dinged my credit for 10 years?