I won't bore you with all the details, but I'm a Veteran who receives treatment at VA hospitals. If I have a medical emergency and am not near a VA hospital, the VA covers the charges. There was a mixup on a $350 fee in an emergency situation a few years ago and it's now coming back to haunt me.
The CA and I spoke a lot on the phone about the situation: They were aware that the VA was saying they had paid the hospital ALL charges, the hospital was saying "No you haven't", and I was stuck in the middle. The CA called me every month and we had a nice chat about the current status, and then the calls stopped. Throughout this entire process (2007 until six weeks ago), nothing was showing up on my Transunion, Equifax or Experian credit reports.
All of a sudden at the beginning of March, an $18 collection from this same hospital stay and through the same CA (who by this time owned the debt) showed up on ONE of my CRs. I called the CA immediately. They remembered me and the situation: It was all there in my file. I said, "I'm going to go ahead and pay this. Will you see to it that it comes off my CRs?" (I know: I should have done this via mail, but the moment was right and they were willing). She said they would, and in their defense, they did have the $18 collection removed from all CRs really quickly.
So I ask her for the total (in case there are any other fees or anything). When she told me the amount was something over $500, I nearly fainted on the spot. THAT is how I found out about the $366.03 (plus interest and costs) judgement against me. I was totally freaked out. The judgement never showed up on any of my credit reports. I'd never gotten a letter about it or anything, that I was aware of.
So I paid both the judgement amount and the $18 on the spot.
Fast forward to this past Friday: It seems that while the judgement wasn't on my CRs before, it's showing up now that I have paid it. Love the irony.
I am hoping to be able to do something about this, but I'm not sure it's possible. I've read every post here about Motions to Vacate, but I'm still not sure if this will do me any good. I looked up the records for this case online, and I see that the certified letter was signed for by someone else who lives at this address. I never received it nor knew anything about it. I know it wasn't a vindictive thing (not giving it to me), this person is just basically a disorganized mess. Between that and the collection/judgement never showing up on my CRs, I feel blindsinded.
Should I get an attorney to file the Motion to Vacate? Do I even have grounds to file a Motion to Vacate? I can't imagine the CA would want to pay their attorney to show up for a $500 judgement that has already been paid.
Addendum: I am also wondering if I should dispute this with the CRAs.
Thank you, guiness56. I'll continue to search.
As for disputing: It never hurts to ask. I've found that my assumptions about things are often off the mark, and that it's worthwhile to ask.
I didn't think so. Thanks for verifying.
So would I ask the CA whether or not they'd oppose a Motion to Vacate, or go directly to their attorney of record?