Can Debt Collector Remove Negative Mark from my Credit?

[Anonymous]

I was in a dispute with my local hospital over some charges.  I thought we had come to an agreement until i noticed on Creditkarma that I had an account in collections.  Apparently, the agency had called my phone several times but did not leave any messages (I don't answer calls from unknown numbers but will return the calls if a message is left). I have been rebuilding my credit and was quite proud of what I was accomplishing.  Unfortunately,  this negative mark has cost me 60 points!  Although I am still angry that I was not given an opportunity to pay the agency before it was reported (they said they had no obligation to leave me any sort of message), I called and told them that I would happily pay the $250 if they could provide me with an itemized list of the charges and immediately remove the derogatory mark from my credit.  They stated that they could only provide me with the date(s) of the services (not what the charges were for) and would have no problem submitting for removal from my credit.  I then asked for them to send me this information in writing and they FLATLY refused.  I knew the word game they were playing with me!  Here are my questions... can they have it removed?  If they can, why would they NOT put it in writing?  If not, why should I pay it?  Are they NOT under any obligation to leave a basic message AT LEAST ONCE to give me an opportunity to pay the bill before ruining my credit?

[Shogun]

It's kind of against the rules to remove like that, nothing legal but in the guideline it says you shouldn't remove for payment.  There are several CAs that won't send it in writing and this is why.  I've not had one go back on their word to me.

[0REDSOX7]

Legally, removing an item on your CR in return for payment is illegal under the FCRA. Now, with that said, we have it done all the time.

We had an issue with a student loan servicer that reported the balance as 30 days late post BK due to their error and it reported.

We called and they said they would fix it and they did without it in writing.

Some places are not going to put in writing but will do it. You could always sign up for a google voice account and record the call (I did that with all my collection calls when I was filing BK).

[Shogun]

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@0REDSOX7 wrote:
Legally, removing an item on your CR in return for payment is illegal under the FCRA. Now, with that said, we have it done all the time.

We had an issue with a student loan servicer that reported the balance as 30 days late post BK due to their error and it reported.

We called and they said they would fix it and they did without it in writing.

Some places are not going to put in writing but will do it. You could always sign up for a google voice account and record the call (I did that with all my collection calls when I was filing BK).

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It's not illegal, there is nothing in the FCRA that even mentions it.  All it does say that any information that is posted must be accurate.  There's nothing that states anything has to be posted at all.

[0REDSOX7]

Odd. Two consumer finance attorneys I've met with said it goes against the "accurate" reporting piece of the FCRA and said that deleting a collection account by paying it off violates that because your credit report is no longer accurate.

[Shogun]

Then there would be a requirement that all credit transactions would be required to be reported to ALL credit reporting agencies to show an accurate report.  No such rule exists.  Even the government has a program to remove paid tax liens.  They would not violate their own FCRA regulations.

[Momof5]

+1 on the "it not illegal to delete".

If they refuse to delete, ask them to agree to not responding to a dispute.  That would result in a deletion....

[0REDSOX7]

Well sorry for that misinformation guys!

Thanks for correcting me (in a nice and respectful way)!

[Shogun]

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@0REDSOX7 wrote:

Well sorry for that misinformation guys!

Thanks for correcting me (in a nice and respectful way)!

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You actually gave insightful information that you received from a professional.  It was just skewed a bit, might have been their opinion on it.