Acting pro se, Ron Cottrell sued Infinite Energy, Inc. in magistrate court, alleging that the company erroneously reported him to various credit bureaus for not paying his natural gas bill. Although the magistrate court awarded Cottrell $140 plus court costs, Cottrell appealed the judgment directly to state court. Following a bench trial, the trial court awarded Cottrell both actual and punitive damages. We granted Infinite Energy’s application for discretionary review, and for reasons that follow, we affirm the trial court’s actual damages award, but vacate the punitive damages award and remand for further proceedings.1 On appeal from a bench trial, we construe the evidence favorably to the trial court’s judgment and affirm if any evidence supports it.2 So viewed, the evidence shows that in July 2005, Cottrell received a collection agency notice that his $140.30 gas bill from Infinite Energy was past due and, if he failed to pay within 15 days, he would be reported to the credit bureaus. Unaware that he had an outstanding bill, Cottrell immediately called the collection agency, which referred him to Infinite Energy. An Infinite Energy representative confirmed that Cottrell’s account was past due, and Cottrell paid the balance over the telephone by credit card.
A few days later, Cottrell received another past-due notice from the collection agency, and he provided the agency with evidence that he had paidInfinite Energy. Cottrell then contacted Infinite Energy and explained the situation to another representative, who stated that she would address the issue with the collection agency. This representative subsequently told Cottrell that “she had taken care of it” and that the collection agency would not report him to the credit bureaus.
