Feeling defeated. A new med collection has surfaced.

[Anonymous]

I spent years legally removing all negatives from my credit reports and have been enjoying good credit for a while. Look at my siggy and you will see that I have made great progress.  Today I received a myFico alert that my score has fell by 40 points! I take a look and a medical collection has been added.

I can truly say with all honesty I did not know the bill existed.  I have not received any letters from the provider nor the collection agency. So I contact the provider to say it's a mistake. They state it's not.  I contact the insurance company and they state yes it appears I owe this toward my portion.  I paid the copayment at the time of service but they state according to the provider's claim I owe more. With that said, I am willing to pay.  

The provider says I was sent a letter earlier this year.  I honestly didn't receive it.  The provider connected me to their billing department who is saying they attempted to contact me.  I have no messages whatsoever from them.  I would have paid this immediately if I knew this bill existed. There is no way in hell I would risk having bad credit again. Absolutley no way would I have ignored this.

I am ready to pay right now but I need this off my credit reports.  Do I have any recourse? The billing department says it turned this over to the collection agency in August.  To this day I have not received a letter nor a phone call from the collection agency.  The collection agency simply placed it on my reports and myFico notified me today.

What can I do? Since the collection agency didn't notify me, can I pay and insist they remove it?  I am very worried my creditors such as Amex will do a soft pull and see this and close my accounts. This is a nightmare that I didn't cause.

[trusty]

Paying a collection (without a written agreement for deletion) is just about the worst thing one can do, because it solidifies the derogatory remaining on a credit report, in perpetuity.

Strategically... disputing straightaway, and then debt validating are some tools that may be applied when collections pop up. The burden of proof is on them. All the better if you discover that it was a case of mistaken identity.

[Anonymous]

Try to work it out with the credit collector if you owe the bill - PFD.

I had the same thing a few months ago, an old medical bill for less than 300.00 pop'ed up for collection.

I took about a 20 point hit, I was upset, the bill was over three years old, did not recall ever seeing it.

But emailed them recently, told them I did not see it, and would pay it if I owed it, and would like to see it removed from my credit files if possible.

I received a call the next day, called them back, they offered to remove it for payment, I was very happy. I know that depends on who the collector is, the one I had is known when I looked around, and not often agrees to PFD.

I would not insist they remove it, AFAIK they have no obligation to do so if the dept is real, how can you prove they did not contact you?

I would try sugar and not spice to request they help you out with this IMHO.

Maybe you can get the same luck. 

But while this was still showing on my reports I received a new AMEX card, and credit increases, so I do not THINK medical bills are holding that much weight now, could be wrong and I am just lucky, but as I am not lucky often .....

Wait a bit for others to chime in, as I am no pro at this, I was saved by this board a couple years back, and am doing much better.

GL

[Anonymous]

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@trusty wrote:

Paying a collection (without a written agreement for deletion) is just about the worst thing one can do, because it solidifies the derogatory remaining on a credit report, in perpetuity.

Strategically... disputing straightaway, and then debt validating are some tools that may be applied when collections pop up. The burden of proof is on them. All the better if you discover that it was a case of mistaken identity.

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This is just plain bad advice on handling a legitimate debt. For one thing there is no "burden of proof". Taking an adversarial stance is certainly going to simply make them dig in. Approach them honestly, stating that you never knew about this, have recieved no notifications, and wish to pay it if they will agree to delete it. A written promise to do so is not necessary, you can record any phone calls with them.

[Anonymous]

Call them and tell them you'll pay it if they agree to delete it and if they agree tell them you need to record the call and ask their approval.  Then ask the question again and be specific about amounts paid and that the will actually delete it from your credit reports upon payment.

Medical collectors tend to be easier to deal with if you're honest about it.

[Anonymous]

I’ve talked to the provider and the collector and no one is budging on PFD. I’ve even asked for supervisors and they too said no. They even tried the old “we provide a letter saying paid in full for you to provide to the bureaus.”

1) At this point should I just pay and hope somehow to get it removed?

2) Also, if I go in-person to the provider's office to explain I didnt know the bill existed should I have the bill already paid to ask for a deletion?

You can’t imagine how much this hurts. I feel angry and hurt.

[RobertEG]

A debt can be placed for collection at any time after it has become delinquent.

There is no requirement that a debt collector contact that consumer prior to reporting their collection.

Requirement to send a collection notice to a consumer applies after they have  initiated communication with the consumer, not prior.

FDCPA 809(a).

There is no basis for requiring removal of the collection.

I would continue good-will requests rather than excalating confrontation.

[Anonymous]

I think the rep is trying to tell me to pay and they will delete. He can’t say that but he stated some people paid and their account was removed. At this point all I can do is pay and pray for the best. Seven years is a long time to ride this out. So I will make it my life’s mission to get rid of this. I am so disgusted that I am back in this boat but I am energized. This too will pass.

[trusty]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@trusty wrote:

Paying a collection (without a written agreement for deletion) is just about the worst thing one can do, because it solidifies the derogatory remaining on a credit report, in perpetuity.

Strategically... disputing straightaway, and then debt validating are some tools that may be applied when collections pop up. The burden of proof is on them. All the better if you discover that it was a case of mistaken identity.

---

This is just plain bad advice on handling a legitimate debt. For one thing there is no "burden of proof". Taking an adversarial stance is certainly going to simply make them dig in. Approach them honestly, stating that you never knew about this, have recieved no notifications, and wish to pay it if they will agree to delete it. A written promise to do so is not necessary, you can record any phone calls with them.

---

There is always the burden of proof. That's one of the fundamental tenets of our society. Pretending there isn't a burden of proof - when there absolutely is - does a gross disservice to oneself, and to others.

"Bad advice," in this context, would be telling someone to just suck it up and take it... or worse yet, to send in a payment for an unsubstantiated collection... and then hope that said collection agency removes a paid collection, which they have zero obligation to do.

Rather, the proper advice to give someone revolves around what their legal options are... to enforce the collection agency's legal obligation to validate and ensure that they are supplying accurate and complete information.

To wit: Everybody that has studied the laws knows that a reported item must be 100% accurate and complete. This oftentimes means that even if someone did owe a debt once upon a time... if it hasn't been accounted for correctly, than it can be removed from the credit reports.

Whether someone should own up to something is very personal to them... and not at all mutually exclusive from objectively pursuing their legal rights.

Any advice that doesn't involve someone's legal rights is nothing more than feigning the morality police.

[Anonymous]

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@trusty wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@trusty wrote:

Paying a collection (without a written agreement for deletion) is just about the worst thing one can do, because it solidifies the derogatory remaining on a credit report, in perpetuity.

Strategically... disputing straightaway, and then debt validating are some tools that may be applied when collections pop up. The burden of proof is on them. All the better if you discover that it was a case of mistaken identity.

---

This is just plain bad advice on handling a legitimate debt. For one thing there is no "burden of proof". Taking an adversarial stance is certainly going to simply make them dig in. Approach them honestly, stating that you never knew about this, have recieved no notifications, and wish to pay it if they will agree to delete it. A written promise to do so is not necessary, you can record any phone calls with them.

---

There is always the burden of proof. That's one of the fundamental tenets of our society. Pretending there isn't a burden of proof - when there absolutely is - does a gross disservice to oneself, and to others.

"Bad advice," in this context, would be telling someone to just suck it up and take it... or worse yet, to send in a payment for an unsubstantiated collection... and then hope that said collection agency removes a paid collection, which they have zero obligation to do.

Rather, the proper advice to give someone revolves around what their legal options are... to enforce the collection agency's legal obligation to validate and ensure that they are supplying accurate and complete information.

To wit: Everybody that has studied the laws knows that a reported item must be 100% accurate and complete. This oftentimes means that even if someone did owe a debt once upon a time... if it hasn't been accounted for correctly, than it can be removed from the credit reports.

Whether someone should own up to something is very personal to them... and not at all mutually exclusive from objectively pursuing their legal rights.

Any advice that doesn't involve someone's legal rights is nothing more than feigning the morality police.

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Wow I hear you talking.  Well said.

I decided to pay because it's very fresh and there is no law saying they had to contact before placing on my credit reports.  The debt incurred this year so collector I'm sure was going to update monthly further killing me.  By paying at least there is only one month of reporting and my score can start rebounding sooner.  In the mean time, I've got a few ideas that might get the collection removed now that it's paid. For starters I begged my arse off when I talked to them.  I'm hoping they have mercy and delete.  I'm also still talking with the provider who has promised to get back with me about a deletion.  If anyone has an idea that might work, please post it.