Medical collections

kmacqua · ‎09-27-2014

Hi folks,

I am trying to clear my credit reports of negatives and I don't have time on my side. I have 2 medical accounts that went to collections as follows:

$234: opened 4/2010 with CMRE Financial, last reported 1/2011, balance $266 as of 1/2011.

$90: 2/2010 opened with NCO/Financial55, last reported 3/2011, balance $101 as of 3/2011.

What is the quickest way to remove these? Call the original creditor and ask them to pull them back from collections and pay the doctor's office in full? If the CA no longer has the account from the dr office, they are prohibited from reporting that item to the CRAs, correct?

Am I more likely to be successful working with the OC (dr's office) or the CA (PFD request)?

I could dispute or DV--I don't recognize either of these debts, don't remember receiving a bill, etc. But they could turn out to be valid debts: I was moving about this time and it could be that a bill (from the dr or collections agency) was sent to my old address and not forwarded or lost in all the chaos. I think I recognize one of the original creditor as a medical facility I may have used. But even if the DV went my way, I think that may be slower than PIF.

Thoughts? Advice? Thanks in advance!

kjel · ‎09-27-2014

If you are uncertain that they are yours, I'd do the DV.

If you believe they are yours I would push hard for a PFD since they are small amounts. IMHO, I don't think the OC would take them back since they are 3 years old, but you never know until you ask. NCO is pretty easy to negotiate a PFD with, I got a $200 collection deleted in exchange for payment and one for my partner as well. The other CA, I am not sure of. Alternatively you can Google "whychat HIPAA" for another strategy which we cannot discuss here.

kmacqua · ‎09-27-2014

Just to be clear, are you suggesting that I DV and, if validated, try to PFD with the collection agency, not the orginal creditor?

I've heard of the "HIPAA-that-shall-not-be-named" and don't want to go that route because (a) I think it may take longer and (b) if the reason it can't be named because it is only quasi-legal, I'm not comfortable with that.

While time should be my credit's best friend, I don't have time. I was surprised to find these old, unknown items. I would have loved to have cleared them or taken care of them way back then, had I known. But that was in my ostrich phase.

Thanks!

kmacqua · ‎09-27-2014

Or given that I don't have tons of time, should I skip the DV and, whether they are valid or not, just skip to trying to PFD with the collection agency? It's not spare change, but I'm willing to pay to be rid of them.