Understanding FICO® Scoring

[Hannazmum]

Help! We just pulled my husband's credit reports from myFico, and found some unwanted surprises. Turns out a medical bill that he thought had been paid by our insurance wasn't--he ignored the notices and now the $168 bill has been sent to collections. It was just reported last month.

My credit is good. I want to buy a house at the end of the year. But between this recent collection and his "forgetting" to pay the $15 balance on one of his personal credit cards last month (it is now showing a 30-day late--don't get me started), his scores have gone down in the dumps.

I know there's nothing we can do about the late payment, but is there anything we can do to get the collection removed? We are more than willing to pay the bill, it was just a mistake.

Any suggestions that will keep him from having to sleep on the couch will be much appreciated (by him)!

Hannazmum

[okrogius]

Try a goodwill letter for the late.

With regards to the collection - try disputing as inaccurate. If you get a contact from a CA, DV and assuming you get satisfactory response try to get a PFD.

[Noah_Bodie]

Don't close the CC with the late, and do pursue GW. If it's open and current, they are more likely to grant GW.

On the collection, DV the CA. If they cannot validate, then the CA has to delete their reporting. Kicks it back to the OC where you can press for a PFD.

[madriley]

Don't deal with the collection agency. There is something you can do about medical collections. go to this website: http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?s=16868a09abb03e2a7f2c7ecd5c0b50e6&showforum=39 Start a thread and describe your situation. They'll guide you through the process step by step. The basic concept is that there are special laws with respect to medical bills that always allow you to pay your doctor's office. Legally, the doctor's office must accept payment for medical services no matter how long ago it was and can't force you to go through the collection agency. Once the account is paid, the doctors office can't legally report the paid status to the collection agency. Because of the HIPAA laws, medical facilities can only communicate with collection angencies when there is a valid business purpose, once you have paid them, there is no valid business purpose. You can then use the HIPAA laws to force a deletion. That is, provided you follow the directions exactly. The process may take a few months though. If you are willing to wait, it is by far the best way to go for medical related collections.

[Hannazmum]

Thanks to everyone who responded! I hadn't thought about a GW letter for the CC, it literally had a $15 balance that he thought was entirely paid off which resulted in this problem. Under these circumstances (he has never been late on it before), they should cut him some slack, right?

As for the collection, I have heard of the method described by madrilley using HIPAA. But I think, under HIPAA, sending PHI in connection with a debt to an outside collection agency is allowable activity. Too bad.

I will pass on all your suggestions to my husband, and make it his project this week to figure it out. Thanks again!

Hannazmum

[Tuscani]

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Hannazmum wrote:
Thanks to everyone who responded! I hadn't thought about a GW letter for the CC, it literally had a $15 balance that he thought was entirely paid off which resulted in this problem. Under these circumstances (he has never been late on it before), they should cut him some slack, right?

As for the collection, I have heard of the method described by madrilley using HIPAA. But I think, under HIPAA, sending PHI in connection with a debt to an outside collection agency is allowable activity. Too bad.

I will pass on all your suggestions to my husband, and make it his project this week to figure it out. Thanks again!

Hannazmum

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Hopefully they will cut you some slack. Unfortuneately, many companies have zero flexibilty and won't budge.