California Business Bureau

Anonymous · ‎09-18-2015

Hi. I currently have ~20 medical collection accounts being reported by California Business Bureaus on my credit reports. I called the OC (the medical group) and they're unable to pull back the accounts from collections so I called the CA today to ask them to PFD. She told me they don't PFD, however, if I can pay off the original balance ($6K), she will waive the fees and interests for me but I will need to pay one lump sum or 2 payments at most.

Unfortunately, I hired Lexington Law group and they are disputing these charges so I'm going to be cancelling my services with them immediately.

The rep told me to make the payments and send them a letter saying that I am not disputing the charges and it was being done by a credit repair company. At that point, she will review my account to see if she can remove the accounts from my credit reports.

I offered to settle the account but she insisted they do not do PFD or "settle" debt because they are working on behalf of the doctors and hospitals and have a strict contract with the credit bureaus.

I don't have that kind of money right now. What should I do? I'm hesistant to pay for it without being guaranteed they will remove these collections from my credit reports.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for your help.

tiger_uppercut · ‎09-18-2015

I can't speak to what you should do in terms of payment plans, but I was able to get a PFD with California Business Bureau for a small medical collection. They wouldn't guarantee it in writing or anything, but the woman told me it would be removed and it was.

Anonymous · ‎09-18-2015

@tiger_uppercut wrote:
I can't speak to what you should do in terms of payment plans, but I was able to get a PFD with California Business Bureau for a small medical collection. They wouldn't guarantee it in writing or anything, but the woman told me it would be removed and it was.

Thank you for your feedback! Did you pay it in full or were you able to settle your account with them? Unfortunately, I was laid off (a few times) and have had significant medical issues so the bills have been racking up (lots of small accounts from $30-$200) in the last 3 years.

I am finally in a better position financially so I was hoping I could settle with them in hopes they would remove these collections from my CRAs.

Anonymous · ‎11-12-2015

Hello. I am trying to deal with California Credit Bureau right now and they are really playing hardball. I mailed a letter offering to pay in full $800 for a deletion and they said that now there are fees and they want me to pay $1200, then later, $1100. They said, "We're not going to delete it for only $800." They also said they wouldn't verify in writing that they would delete it but that I can "trust" them and that they would give me a confirmation number and they would delete it after I paid. I told him that a few months ago they offered to reduce the amount to $300! (This was my second letter mailing them for a PFD, they didn't respond to the first one). And now they are calling my husband and me several times per day. This debt is 5 years old by the way.

Anyway, I don't really feel like I should have to pay $1100 on an $800 bill that they would have taken $300 on a few months ago. I know that the "extra" is to get it removed but without having it in writing, I feel like I could be flushing $300 down the drain. They said their "offer" would last for 72 hours. Any advise?

Anonymous · ‎11-12-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello. I am trying to deal with California Credit Bureau right now and they are really playing hardball. I mailed a letter offering to pay in full $800 for a deletion and they said that now there are fees and they want me to pay $1200, then later, $1100. They said, "We're not going to delete it for only $800." They also said they wouldn't verify in writing that they would delete it but that I can "trust" them and that they would give me a confirmation number and they would delete it after I paid. I told him that a few months ago they offered to reduce the amount to $300! (This was my second letter mailing them for a PFD, they didn't respond to the first one). And now they are calling my husband and me several times per day. This debt is 5 years old by the way.

Anyway, I don't really feel like I should have to pay $1100 on an $800 bill that they would have taken $300 on a few months ago. I know that the "extra" is to get it removed but without having it in writing, I feel like I could be flushing $300 down the drain. They said their "offer" would last for 72 hours. Any advise?

Don't worry about them not wanting to put it in writing. Simply record the phone conversation of them agreeing to delete the collection. Thats all the proof you need, should they try to renege on the deal.

Anonymous · ‎11-12-2015

Thank you for the quick reply! Do you think I should try and get them to accept the $800, or am I trying to have my cake and eat it too? At this point I am just mad because of course they were very difficult on the phone. This is the only 'collection" on my acount. Thanks again!

RobertEG · ‎11-12-2015

"Pigs usually find themselves at slaughter" might be more applicable than the chance of keeping eaten cake......