Newbie Alert: How do GW's work, can I use them to get help with old hospital debts?

[Anonymous]

I just signed up on here, I've had bad credit for years ever since the CC binges my freshman year of college, and just now things are starting to settle down. My FICO is now at 609, and trying to get into our first home. Paying down my 2 credit cards (small limits of 500 each) and have knocked one collection off by paying.

So I have 2 collections from hospital stays 10 years ago, they just never go away. At the time I was a student with no income and was always ill (this was in NM while in college). Since then I've been placed on Disability.

At my home buyer education class, the instructor mentioned something where you can call up the hospital and somehow ask to have the debt cancelled. Is this the Goodwill letters I see mentioned on here?

Someone please educate me a bit...because I can have those letters fired off in no time if it will help me at all! As the med bills are the only things affecting me at this point!!

Thankie

[llecs]

Your instructor suggested you contact the OC (the hospital) and have them cancel the debt. Term-wise, this is called pulling back the debt. The debt isn't cancelled because nothing is owed at this point, but by contract, some OCs, especially medical, have the ability to ask the CA to delete. You can do that via a phone call. It might take up to a few to get to the right person. You can also mail a GW if so inclined.

In cases where the debt cannot be pulled back (maybe the CA bought the debt), then there are two approaches you can take: 1) follow the HIPAA process if you paid the hospital or 2) send a GW to the CA asking them to delete. Google "HIPAA process" for more info, but that involves leaving the CA out of it and paying the medical OC. Details of this process can't be found here, unfortunately. Or send a GW to the CA asking them to delete. Either route you take, I bet it'll work.