Wrong address-sent to collections

[mamaoftwins]

A medical bill of my husbands (measly $240) has been going to the wrong (old) address for months and was then sent to collections (who also had the wrong address). The hospital still has the debt and we finally received a bill that the post office forwarded to us finally. When I called to pay on it they told me it was also in collections. I called collections and they said they have had it for more than 60 days so it has already been reported to the bureaus. Is there anything we can do besides PFD? If we pay with the hospital can they somehow take it back from collections? This sucks!

[ktl72455]

I would write a letter or call the collection agency and explain the wrong address and try a PFD.  If they wont, you can stil pay it and then good will the heck out of them :-)

Or ask the hospital to pull the collection back so you can pay it.

[mamaoftwins]

Ugh, I just saw on my husband's Score Watch today that it reported to the bureaus. If the hospital will pull the collection will it be taken off the bureaus?

[RobertEG]

Hard to say.

The reportings by a creditor and debt collector are separate.  Once a debt collector has obtained collection authority, either by assignment of the authority by the OC or by purchase of the debt, they can report it.  Nothing under the FCRA requires a debt collector to delete their reported collection based on termination of their collection authority prior to satiafaction of the debt.  And deletion based on payment of the debt itself is directly contrary to the CRA policy.

However, the CRA reporting manual instructs debt collectors whose collection authority is teminated other than by payment of the debt to delete their reporting.

If the debt collector balks at deletion, you may have to request intervention of the CRA based on their credit reporting guidelines.