Collection Dispute Question

[Anonymous]

Okay.. So long story short, on April 18th, 2016 I paid off a collection I had from a doctors office that I thought insurance had covered. I was told a request would be submitted to all 3 bureaus so that it would be removed from my credit report and when I asked the lady if i could dispute it to get it removed quickly, she said yes.

Well, on May 13th, all three bureaus came back with results as verified and the collections updated as paid in full.

I called same day and the lady i spoke to was very rude and told me that no such request for removal was submitted.

I threatened to dispute the credit card charge as our terms had not been agreed to. She got her supervisor and after a few minutes of conversation, he said he submitted the request for removal while I was on the phone and that I would receive a letter in the mail agreeing to submit the request for removal.

Fast forward to yesterday when I received the letter, dated May 19th. It says that I have paid the collection in full, it is closed and that the request for removal has been submitted to all 3 bureaus. It also says that it could take up to 30 days for this to take place, and any longer and it is out of their control.

This brings me to my question.

Since I did NOT have the letter for the first dispute and it came back verified, should I dispute the collection again and submit the document now that I have it or should I just wait and see if its actually removed in the 30 days?

I am also kind of wondering if having this collection removed will help boost my score any? Its my only collection.

I know I kind of sound impatient and thats because I need a new car and I do not want to go into the dealership with this collection showing on my report. My car is going to my wife in July when she starts her new job and I cant be without a car myself.

I appreciate any input and or advice.

[RobertEG]

Paying the debt is not basis for removal of a reported collection.

In fact, CRA policy clearly instructs furnishers not to delete their reporting based on payment of the debt.

There is no inaccuracy upon which to base a dispute. 

Sending the CRA documentatiion that a furnisher has agreed to delete does not change the facts, and is asking the CRA to reach a determination that is contrary to their official policy.  You should, in my opinion, simply wait for the debt collector to submit a normal deletion request,and for the CRA to process it.

When the CRA receives a normal reporting of deletion, they do not require reasons, and routinely simply delete.

By disputing without a basis for otherwise involving the CRA in the voluntary deletion process, you amy jeopardize the CRA acceptance of a deletion and/or jeopardize the debt collector's credit reporting agreement.

I would let the debt collector follow thru in their deletion in the normal manner, and not involve the CRA in the pay for deletion issue.

[Anonymous]

Thank you..

What do I do if they do not end up deleting it? Or does that not happen when the request for deletion is submitted?

I got screwed over with a PFD before and when I disputed that 6 months later, it was removed and I was contacted with an apology. So I just want to make sure Im not going to get screwed this time too.

[RobertEG]

A PFD acceptance is a legal contract, even if only oral.

You can end an intent to sue letter, followed by an actual civil action for breach of contract.

Filing a civil action then permits you to request discovery of their internal documentation, such as any recorded phone calls.

[RonM21]

I fully agree with Robert. Let them send out the removal request and wait for the CB's to remove it. You don't want to give them a reason not to do it.

[Anonymous]

Thank you guys.

Since the request WAS submitted, does that means the 3 CRA's will actually remove the account now? They cant just ignore it right?

And if the request was submitted on May 19th (or before), about how long will it be before my report updates with the removal?

[RobertEG]

I have seen reports stating that the CRAs have flagged certain debt collectors who have an unusually high number of reported deletions on paid collections for further review.

The CRA can question compliance with its procedures, so it would depend upon whether they have any systems in place that would trigger any type of review based on information that a debt collector is routinely deleting based on payment of a debt.

[Anonymous]

As far as I know, the collection agency that had my collection only deals with medical collections and the supervisor said that because my collection was medical, there should be no issue having it removed but it is out of their hands after 30 days.

I just want to make sure that the request for deletion from my reports isnt going to be ignored by any of the bureaus.

I see plenty of successful PFD stories and I'd like mine to be one of them.