topic Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-( in General Credit Topics

OMG NOOOOOOO :-( 11/24/2015 UPDATE

icyhot — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 23:43:27 GMT

So I was checking my credit reports and my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw that there was a new reported collection?? One thing I've always been diligent about is staying on top of my bills and never letting anything go to collection or late payment. So I called the medical provider and asked them WHY did they put this on my report and they've been sending the bills to the wrong address and I never got them. She apologized, gave me a payoff discount and I paid right then. She said she wll contact the collections agency and ask to expedite but I am nervous as crap of what will happen if one of my banks SP me until it comes off. It was reported on Equifax of all places. I don't know if I should preemptively call them and tell them to situation to avoid AA or if I should lay low, not poke the bear and call them if AA happens and pray they restore my account. I'm really nervous about Chase, BofA and Citi. I doubt Amex will bother those teeny limits but I can't lose the other three

11/24/2015 UPDATE: I was finally able to dispute with Equifax online. I called in to the collections agency to confirm that the original creditor has submitted that I paid, they said yes and they update to the CRAs at the beginning of every month. HOWEVER, there is ANOTHER account that has been placed for collection at that same office from a different medica provider, that I also did not recieve any bills from, so I will have to call them as well so they don't place it into collections. This is so frustrating and none of this is my fault. If I'm not recieving the bills, how can I be held liable for nonpayment??

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

baller4life — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:12:17 GMT

Whatever you do don't call your creditors and alert them. Did provider agree to pfd?

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:16:00 GMT

@baller4life wrote:
Whatever you do don't call your creditors and alert them. Did provider agree to pfd?

+100

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

icyhot — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:16:42 GMT

@baller4life wrote:
Whatever you do don't call your creditors and alert them. Did provider agree to pfd?

Yes, she said she will contact the agency to have it removed but she said 30-60 days??

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

FinStar — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:17:20 GMT

@baller4life wrote:
Whatever you do don't call your creditors and alert them. Did provider agree to pfd?

Exaclty - that's not really going to do much but why add fuel to to fire? Have you checked all your CRs to see if it reflects for all or just EQ?

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

UncleB — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:23:22 GMT

@icyhot wrote:
So I was checking my credit reports and my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw that there was a new reported collection?? One thing I've always been diligent about is staying on top of my bills and never letting anything go to collection or late payment. So I called the medical provider and asked them WHY did they put this on my report and they've been sending the bills to the wrong address and I never got them. She apologized, gave me a payoff discount and I paid right then. She said she wll contact the collections agency and ask to expedite but I am nervous as crap of what will happen if one of my banks SP me until it comes off. It was reported on Equifax of all places. I don't know if I should preemptively call them and tell them to situation to avoid AA or if I should lay low, not poke the bear and call them if AA happens and pray they restore my account. I'm really nervous about Chase, BofA and Citi. I doubt Amex will bother those teeny limits but I can't lose the other three

I'm so sorry to hear this has happened... the same thing happened to me years ago, and I didn't find out about it until I was trying to get my first mortgage (!). In my case, the doctor's billing folks had failed to do the 'insurance write off' (I didn't even owe the money) and they also had sent a bill to an old address. Like in your situation, once I called them they apologized profusely, and even gave me a direct number to the collection agency, which they contacted as well. Surprisingly, the CA was very easy to work with, and had it off my credit reports within a few days. The amount was $25, and the doctor's office told me that amount never should have gone to collections to begin with.

Your question about whether or not to take 'preemtive action', honestly I wouldn't say a word. I did that once years ago with a returned check, later to find out it would have been presented twice anyway, and they never would have known the difference had I not brought it to their attention. Anyway, any AA that happens will likely be automated, and any account notes added at this point won't make a difference one way or another - other to bring attention to your account, which generally isn't something I like to do.

That's just my 2¢; others might feel otherwise. In the end, do what feels right for you.

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

icyhot — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:25:23 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
@baller4life wrote:
Whatever you do don't call your creditors and alert them. Did provider agree to pfd?
Exaclty - that's not really going to do much but why add fuel to to fire? Have you checked all your CRs to see if it reflects for all or just EQ?

Just for EQ, its at 639 currently, TU and EX are at 712 and 702, respectively

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

UncleB — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:26:27 GMT

@icyhot wrote:
@baller4life wrote:
Whatever you do don't call your creditors and alert them. Did provider agree to pfd?
Yes, she said she will contact the agency to have it removed but she said 30-60 days??

It doesn't have to take that long... you might have to ask for a supervisor, but if they want to, they can do it much faster than that.

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

baller4life — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:41:26 GMT

I personally would dispute it with Equifax to speed things along. That way you know it will be removed within 30 days. I've had to do that a couple times and worked like a charm. Also,fyi, BOA softs Experian and TU. I've never seen them soft EQ.

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

UncleB — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:45:35 GMT

@baller4life wrote:
I personally would dispute it with Equifax to speed things along. That way you know it will be removed within 30 days. I've had to do that a couple times and worked like a charm. Also,fyi, BOA softs Experian and TU. I've never seen them soft EQ.

+1 - Excellent idea!

This allows you to attack the problem from two different angles... whichever works 'first' will solve the issue, but at least you're not solely depending on the verbal promise of a agency CSR to get the entry removed.

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

baller4life — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:47:07 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
@baller4life wrote:
I personally would dispute it with Equifax to speed things along. That way you know it will be removed within 30 days. I've had to do that a couple times and worked like a charm. Also,fyi, BOA softs Experian and TU. I've never seen them soft EQ.
+1 - Excellent idea!

This allows you to attack the problem from two different angles... whichever works 'first' will solve the issue, but at least you're not solely depending on the verbal promise of a agency CSR to get the entry removed.

Bingo!

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:47:57 GMT

@baller4life wrote:
I personally would dispute it with Equifax to speed things along. That way you know it will be removed within 30 days. I've had to do that a couple times and worked like a charm. Also,fyi, BOA softs Experian and TU. I've never seen them soft EQ.

I disagree. That will only make it take longer. I've had collection agencies tell me it will take 30 to 60 days and it actually only took a week. Don't dispute it just let them delete it.

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

baller4life — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:54:13 GMT

That is not true. If and when they report to EQ to delete, it will be deleted and dispute process will be over. EQ won't leave a dispute open and then process at the 30 day mark if a creditor responds sooner. But disputing insures OP that the issue will be resolved in no longer than 30 days as opposed to trusting the CA to delete it in a timely fashion.

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

CreditCuriosity — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:57:22 GMT

Its all done electronically ... If the CA wants to they can have it removed the next day.. It is if they want to get to it that quickly.. I would be lighting a fire under their arse to get it removed as nicely as possible. If the CA wants to speed it up it is alot quicker, but disputing it as well in the meantime isn't a bad course of action either. Whatever gets it off the quickest!

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

UncleB — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:59:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@baller4life wrote:
I personally would dispute it withEquifax to speed things along. That way you know it will be removed within 30 days. I've had to do that a couple times and worked like a charm. Also,fyi, BOAsoftsExperian andTU. I've never seen them soft EQ.
I disagree. That will only make it take longer. I've had collection agencies tell me it will take 30 to 60 days and it actually only took a week. Don't dispute it just let them delete it.

I respect your thoughts here, but there's no guarantee the agency will do what they've only (so far) verbally agreed to do. If the agency does indeed immediately remove the entry, by the time the dispute is processed it will be 'moot', and will simply be closed. I've disputed balance inaccuracies before, only to have the report update before my dispute was processed, and nothing negative happened.

By starting a formal dispute now, the OP starts the clock with the credit bureaus, just in case the collection agency drops the ball (or even worse, does nothing). If the agency chooses to move quickly and have it removed, no harm, no foul. It hurts nothing if by the time the dispute is actually processed, there is nothing left to 'dispute'.

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

taxi818 — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 20:08:45 GMT

@icyhot wrote:
So I was checking my credit reports and my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw that there was a new reported collection?? One thing I've always been diligent about is staying on top of my bills and never letting anything go to collection or late payment. So I called the medical provider and asked them WHY did they put this on my report and they've been sending the bills to the wrong address and I never got them. She apologized, gave me a payoff discount and I paid right then. She said she wll contact the collections agency and ask to expedite but I am nervous as crap of what will happen if one of my banks SP me until it comes off. It was reported on Equifax of all places. I don't know if I should preemptively call them and tell them to situation to avoid AA or if I should lay low, not poke the bear and call them if AA happens and pray they restore my account. I'm really nervous about Chase, BofA and Citi. I doubt Amex will bother those teeny limits but I can't lose the other three

This is why im hoping fico 9 is out which will not count medical bills against your report. such a waste of a good credit report. most of the times it is stupid little mistakes like this that messes up peoples credit. or they did not code it correctly to the insurance company to get paid. When you as consumer gets screwed. No way medical should be going on a credit report. glad you got it corrected but i would want that in writting that they are going to have the collection removed.

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

taxi818 — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 20:12:20 GMT

@baller4life wrote:
That is not true. If and when they report to EQ to delete, it will be deleted and dispute process will be over. EQ won't leave a dispute open and then process at the 30 day mark if a creditor responds sooner. But disputing insures OP that the issue will be resolved in no longer than 30 days as opposed to trusting the CA to delete it in a timely fashion.

+1 this is correct as in the dispute they will contact the OC and they will already know it is mistake and the item will be deleted. it does not take longer to dispute but before i paid a dime. I would have wanted it in writting that they are going to delete.

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 20:18:23 GMT

They always say 60-90 days -but I've never had it take more than a week. give it a little time - don't poke the bear - and if it isn't off in a few days - then dispute.....At least give them a chance.....

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

UncleB — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 20:26:41 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
They always say 60-90 days -but I've never had it take more than a week. give it a little time - don't poke the bear - and if it isn't off in a few days - then dispute.....At least give them a chance.....

The thing is, the only real 'bear' here is the OP's creditors, who may or may not do an AR to check up on the OP's other accounts, thus the urgency and the need to have a 'Plan B' in case the CA drops the ball.

It actually harms nothing to start a dispute today, and in fact it could be detrimental to wait if it turns out the dispute is actually needed.

Re: OMG NOOOOOOO :-(

taxi818 — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 20:29:13 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
They always say 60-90 days -but I've never had it take more than a week. give it a little time - don't poke the bear - and if it isn't off in a few days - then dispute.....At least give them a chance.....
The thing is, the only real 'bear' here is the OP's creditors, who may or may not do an AR to check up on the OP's other accounts, thus the urgency and the need to have a 'Plan B' in case the CA drops the ball.

It actually harms nothing to start a dispute today, and in fact it could be detrimental to wait if it turns out the dispute is actually needed.

+1 The quicker the better. Would not want AA from others because of a mistake on the credit report. thats why the urgency.