Collection Agency Error

[Anonymous]

Hi, first off I would like to say Thank you to whoever tries to help me, I really appreciate it.

I just got a letter from a collector, stating that I had a 125.00 Medical Bill that had been sent to them from a hospital. I called them up, and asked for them to send me a actual bill. While on the phone, the agent told me that I had another collection account that they had. Well, it turns out that account was actually my fathers. When I asked the lady why on the second account, would it get mixed up with my fathers credit report, she told me "It happens alot with people that have the same name" .  I am named after my father btw.

So what do I do?  The first bill is mine for 125.00, the Collection Agency, verified that the 1st bill is mine. They also told me that they wont report it to the 3 Bureaus. I am frustrated that this got all the way to collections, I never received a bill until the CA sent me one after I asked them to verify it.  I have no problem paying the bill, just like I said I am pissed this is going to get on my report when I honestly didn't get one bill in the mail for this 125.00.  

And about there being a wrong collections account on my report, and the agency admitting to the error, what do I do?  I don't think that it's fair they can make errors, but if we mess up , we are screwed.

Sorry about the novel, I just didn't know how to explain my situation.

Thanks!

[RobertEG]

When you have (asserted) multiple debts with the same CRA, the FDCPA provides that the consumer can explicitly state which account any payment is to be applied to.

FDCPA 810, should you need the cite.

Thus, to prevent any further confusion, explicitly state, when remitting payment, the debt/account to which the payment is to be applied.

As for correction of their misreporting, the burden is on them, once becoming aware of any inaccuracy in their reporting, to timely correct the inaccuracy on their own initiative.

Again, the cite is FCRA 623(a)(2).

I would give them until their next regular reporting cycle to delete the inaccurate collection.

If they do not take care of it, then send them a direct dispute under FCRA 623(a)(8), with the inaccuracy being their acknowledged misreporting of the debt of another to your credit report.

[Anonymous]

Should I pay the hospital directly, or go through the collection agency?

[RobertEG]

I would pay thru the debt collector.

They have stated that they wont report if paid, so I would not do anything that might alter that statement.

You could choose to first make an offer to pay in exchange for their agreement not to report.