Do I pay 2 delinquent medical bills?

[Anonymous]

I have 2 medical bills on my credit report that have been on there since 2005. Should I pay them? Will my credit score increase if I do pay them off? These are the only bad things on my credit report. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[guiness56]

Who is reporting, a CA or the OC?

Just paying them will have no affect on your score.

Use google and look for the HIPPA process or use whychat.

[hisfrogness]

Your credit score will only increase if you get those delinquencies deleted as part of a negotiation to settle the debt. It's called a Pay For Delete or PFD letter and if you google that term you will find many sample letters that you can modify for your own circumstance.

The chances of them accepting a PFD is greatly increased if the debt is beyond the Statute of Limitations (SOL) for the state that the debt was incurred in. Many states SOLs are 4 years which you are close to or beyond. Find this collection on your report and look at the Date of Last Activity or Date of First Delinquency and add 4 years to it.

Now, there are exceptions to the SOL with some kind of debt. I don't believe medical bills is one of those exceptions but it might be. You'll have to look.

[guiness56]

In many states there is no SOL on medical debt.  Only Arkansas has an SOL specifically for medical debt and it is 2 years.

If they are your only 2 negatives and they are that old, the CAs may be willing to do a PFD.

Search for it here and you will find many sample letters.

Tailor them for your own needs.

Message Edited by guiness56 on 08-09-2009 02:44 PM

[Anonymous]

I checked the dates. One was 5/1/2005 and the other is 11/1/2005. They both say "closed" under status. I'm going to try and find the amount of time for it to drop off in FL.

[Anonymous]

SOL in Florida is 4 years so the one is over and the other will be in November. What do I do now?

p.s. Some of the abbreviations I'm not familar with. Sorry, new to this.

[Anonymous]

This is what I read:

Florida Statutes of Limitation

Contract or written instrument and for mortgage foreclosure: 5 years. F.S. 95.11.

Libel, slander, or unpaid wages: 2 years.

Judgments: 20 years total and to be a lien on any real property, it has to be re-recorded for a second time at 10 years.

The limitations period begins from the date the last element of the cause of action occurred, (95.051). NOTE: The limitation period is tolled (stopped) for any period during which the debtor is absent from the state and each time a voluntary payment is made on a debt arising from a written instrument.

Almost all other actions fall under the 4-year catch-all limitations period, (F.S. 95.11(3)(p)).

Got it from here:

http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/SOL-by-State.html#10

[guiness56]

SOL only has to do with the time in which someone can sue you for a debt and has nothing to do with the time an item can stay on your report.

If the date of service for these was in 2005 they will stay on your report until 2012.

Do you know who the original creditor was?

[Anonymous]

It was a Hospital. How do I do a PFD and if they agree what happens if they don't hold up their end of the bargain?

[guiness56]

Can you pay the hospital?

You write a letter saying that you will pay the bill in full for the deletion of the account.  You need to get it in writing before sending any money.

Since these are old you could send the CA a DV letter first and see what happens.  If they validate then you would send the PFD.