topic Re: Grant Mercantile Agency - collection just disappeared. in Rebuilding Your Credit

Grant Mercantile Agency - collection just disappeared.

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 21:17:50 GMT

This was a medical debt for $386 from early 2010 - Fresno Heart Surgical Hospital was the OC. This was when we lived in California, and I was laid off right after my wife had knee surgery, and we ended up moving to Oregon in July of that year. I've never disputed the item on my reports and I have not contacted the CA at all. It was last updated in 01/2012 so I really did not want to mess with it yet - I did not want it to update. I was considering sending them a PFD, but have not gotten it wrote up yet.

Woke up this AM to a 5 point bump on EX, and one less collection account! I'm thinking the hospital finally sold it off, or Grant actually owned it and they sold it. I think I'll give it a few days and call the hospital and see what info they have on it - if its with a new CA, I'll see if I can make a deal to pay it and keep it off my reports.

Re: Grant Mercantile Agency - collection just disappeared.

alienfico — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 21:54:05 GMT

I had a similar collection from Grant Mercantile that went away only after they realized it was THEIR MISTAKE, it was only for $58 or some odd amount. It was for radiology work. Come to find out that it was the doctor's office's clerical error that caused my account to go into collection. The outstanding balance of $58 had never been billed to my insurance, needless to say that they removed it right away, but it had been updating every month and I was fighting it because everything should have been paid by my insurance if the doctor's office had billed them. Grant doesn't back down either....so I had to physically go to the doctor's office and wait while they looked stuff up.

Re: Grant Mercantile Agency - collection just disappeared.

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 14:57:19 GMT

Unfortunately, this item is still on my TU and EQ reports.... I'm hoping it will drop from the other two as well. I'll check again in a few more days and then contact the OC.

The good news here is that EX is my middle score, which is the one I need to raise....

Re: Grant Mercantile Agency - collection just disappeared.

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 19:25:00 GMT

Interesting developement....

Called the Fresno Heart Surgical Hospital billing dept today. They were unable to find any record of my wife having an unpaid bill there from 2010, nothing under my name either. The collection is gone from EX but it still remains on TU and EQ. Here's the thing - I don't think this originated in 2010 (Equifax has a DoFD of 4/2010). She had knee surgery in early 2010, but I do not think it was at that hospital - I seem to remember it being done in Bakersfield....

However I DO know she had surgery there, but it was in 2007, maybe 2008 - it was after she had Bariatric surgery in 2006.

I also noticed that this item is listed as "individual" responsibiltiy. All of my wifes medical bills that are on my reports are showing "shared" responsibility. I know that I had no medical services provided to me in 2010. I'm beginning to think this is not even my bill.

Suggestions? Should I dispute the reported DoFD with the CA, or should I request a DV, even though it would not be timely? Call the CA (I hate talking to CA's)?

Re: Grant Mercantile Agency - collection just disappeared.

alienfico — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 23:55:45 GMT

I would call the CA. I had to do that and asked that they give me copies of the original billing. The issue in dispute was that this was my balance after my co-pay, and the

best part of all was that they Grant and Mercantile were saying that I had no insurance. Ummmm, errr, excuse me didn't you just say my CO-PAY in that same sentence. It's an oxymoron to have a COPAY and a balance left from no insurance....sure enough they dug deep enough and referred me back to the radiologist's office. To make a long story short, something went to collection that shouldn't have because the doctor's office forgot to bill my insurance or entered the wrong code or God knows what.

Yeah, it's worth a call.

Re: Grant Mercantile Agency - collection just disappeared.

RobertEG — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 00:10:49 GMT

I assume tht their dunning notice identified the named hospital as the owner of the debt, and you contest that fact based on your own documentation?

A debt collector is not required to identify the OC in a dunning notice if the debt collector owns the debt, so I presume the debt collector is collecting on behalf of the named hospital, and you can document no debt with them at the reported date of delinquency?

If that is the situation, you have, in my opinion, adequate documentation to file a dispute with the debt collector over the accuracy of either the asserted debt itself or the reported DOFD, in the alternative....

Re: Grant Mercantile Agency - collection just disappeared.

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Sep 2015 00:53:58 GMT

@RobertEG wrote:
I assume tht their dunning notice identified the named hospital as the owner of the debt, and you contest that fact based on your own documentation?
A debt collector is not required to identify the OC in a dunning notice if the debt collector owns the debt, so I presume the debt collector is collecting on behalf of the named hospital, and you can document no debt with them at the reported date of delinquency?

If that is the situation, you have, in my opinion, adequate documentation to file a dispute with the debt collector over the accuracy of either the asserted debt itself or the reported DOFD, in the alternative....

I have no dunning notice - I've moved above four times since then, if I ever received a dunning notice it was tossed due to my bad habits back then. All I have to go on is the Credit Report entry. I was planning on letting this one age off in 2017, and then settling it, but things are "happening" now....