Working on fixing credit.....

[Anonymous]

I need some help with some things. I recently started getting educated on my credit scores. I got a court order to goto court for some old medical bills and contacted my insurance to find out that they spelled my name wrong and so my insurance denied the claim. The bills were from september 4,2009 and november 26, 2009. When I found out about the court case I had to file my answer and the case was given a continuance. The case has been post poned till March 2, 2012. The bills have been paid as of novemeber 10, 2011. Now I am receiving bills from the CA telling me I owe court costs for something we never went to court for. Am I responsible for this, since we never went to court? and can they ad this to my credit report? 

They have started to remove these from my credit. I just dont want something else to be added at this point. 

[RobertEG]

It is a violation for a debt collector to attempt to collect debt that have not actually accrued.

Court fees as debt when you did not even go to court?  Hmmmm.  Did it include fees for costs not yet incurred, or for past legal fees involved only with the continuance?

I think you might have a good case for suing them for attempting to collect a debt that they knowingly are not entitled to.

There are legal decisions on that issue.  Let me know if you intend to pursue their claims, and I will provide some citations.

[Anonymous]

Thankyou for your quick response. That is what I thought but wasnt sure. 

[Anonymous]

The first continuance came because the insurance company notified them they were reviewing the bills for payment. The second continuance they requested after they were paid. This surprised me. I thought after they were paid it would be the end of it. 

[Anonymous]

Ok so here is an update.... All the bills that were paid by the insurance are now showing on my credit report as (Comments: Experian Account in dispute - reported by subscriber (FCBA)) I havent disputed them as of yet, so I am not sure who did this. What should I do now? Should I put in my own dispute? Should I send letters to the reporting agencies? 

Taking care of these items will surely change the look of my credit report and so I am really just wanting to take the correct steps to remove them. 

Thankyou for your help.

[RobertEG]

Since you are preparing to go to court, I would use this as an opportunity to show the court the willful abuse of the system by the debt collector.

I would not, at this time, dispute at all.  Rather, I would send an immediate letter to the debt collector, and take a copy to court with you.

Dear Mr. Debt Collector.

As evidenced by the attached copy of the relevant portion of my recent credit report, you have recently reported to the credit reporting agencies that I have filed a dispute with you over the accuracy of information contained in my credit file.  I have not filed a dispute, either with a credit reporting agency pursuant to FCRA 611(a), or directly with you under the provisions of FCRA 623(a)(8).  Thus, the reporting of my filing of a dispute is clearly inaccurate, and very troubling in view of our imminent scheduled court appearance.

It removes certain information from my credit scoring during the period that a dispute flag is active in my credit file, and thus making my credit report/score temporarily useless in representing my credit status.

I request that you immediately notify the credit reporting agencies that your reporting of an active dispute by me was in error, and have the dispute flag removed from my credit file.  Time is of the essence, as it will be necessary to both have the erroneous flag lifted and a new credit report and score generated prior to my scheduled court appearance.

I will, if necessary, be forced to rely upon my current report, with explantion to the court of both its inaccuracy, and my attempts with you to have it corrected prior to trial.

Sincerely,

[Anonymous]

Thankyou so much for that letter.