topic Re: When I pay the Original Debtor instead of CA - does the CA still have rights to report? in Rebuilding Your Credit

When I pay the Original Debtor instead of CA - does the CA still have rights to report?

Katheryne88 — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 16:48:54 GMT

I had three medical collections from our Pediatrician, 2 for $25 and a $590 one.
I never received any notices, went to multiple appointments in between and never knew about these.

I happened to log in thru patient portal under my son's name to get some test results and noticed the bills past due so I paid them right away, online thru the portal. I looked at my credit report and a Collections Agency is still reporting them.

I've disputed them and they came back and "correct". Question is, how do I stop them from reporting? I've also called and they're one of those abusive companies who don't really give a flying unicorn.

TIA -

Re: When I pay the Original Debtor instead of CA - does the CA still have rights to report?

gdale6 — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 19:59:45 GMT

Too late now to use the steps you now have to use a goodwill letter to the CAs to ask that they remove. Yes they have the right to report unless the OC recalls them.

Medical collections are some of the easiest to get removed from your CRs, here are the steps that you should follow to address them:

1. Call the OC and see if insurance can be billed, (or-rebilled), collections ultimately paid by insurance get removed per new rules that came from CRAs settlement with 22 state AGs. If not then
2. see if you qualify for Charity Care, if not then
3. ask that they recall the collection in exchange for full payment
4. Send the reporting CA a PFD offer
5. Google the HIPAA Process and contact its creator for help, this process cannot be discussed in any forum of myFico.

Re: When I pay the Original Debtor instead of CA - does the CA still have rights to report?

sjt — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 22:29:29 GMT

If you paid the doctor's office directly and they accepted payment, they need to recall the debt from the collection agency. Once that happens the collection agency should delete the negative tradeline.

Re: When I pay the Original Debtor instead of CA - does the CA still have rights to report?

RobertEG — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 06:03:02 GMT

No, paying the original creditor does not require removal of or prevent the reporting of a related collection by the assigned debt collector. It only requires that the collection be updated to show closed, paid, and $0 balance.

The CRA reporting manual, for example, clearly instructs debt collectors NOT to delete their collection based on payment of the debt, regardless of whether it is paid to the creditor or debt collector.

Deletion of a collection is only mandated if the debt collector's collection authority is terminated with the debt remaining unpaid. That CRA policy does not apply to the situation where the debt is paid to the creditor.

That deletion policy exists to prevent a subsequent collection to then report on the same debt, which can occur if the debt remains unpaid.

A creditor must terminate the assignment of collection authority prior to any payment of the debt in order for that CRA deletion policy to then apply.

After you pay the debt, there is no longer any active collection authority that can be terminated ("recalled").

Thus, the collection cannot be required to be removed after payment is made.

Contact the debt collector and request their consideration of a good-will deletion.

Re: When I pay the Original Debtor instead of CA - does the CA still have rights to report?

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 18:18:29 GMT

@RobertEG wrote:
No, paying the original creditor does not require removal of or prevent the reporting of a related collection by the assigned debt collector. It only requires that the collection be updated to show closed, paid, and $0 balance.

The CRA reporting manual, for example, clearly instructs debt collectors NOT to delete their collection based on payment of the debt, regardless of whether it is paid to the creditor or debt collector.

Deletion of a collection is only mandated if the debt collector's collection authority is terminated with the debt remaining unpaid. That CRA policy does not apply to the situation where the debt is paid to the creditor.
That deletion policy exists to prevent a subsequent collection to then report on the same debt, which can occur if the debt remains unpaid.

A creditor must terminate the assignment of collection authority prior to any payment of the debt in order for that CRA deletion policy to then apply.
After you pay the debt, there is no longer any active collection authority that can be terminated ("recalled").
Thus, the collection cannot be required to be removed after payment is made.

Contact the debt collector and request their consideration of a good-will deletion.

How can a collection company have a collection for a debt that no longer exists?

Re: When I pay the Original Debtor instead of CA - does the CA still have rights to report?

RobertEG — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 20:07:16 GMT

A reported collection does not require that it currrently be active (i.e., the debt remains unpaid).

A collection can be reported at any time after the debt collector obtains collection authority, and the reported current status of open or closed, paid or unpaid, along with the current balance, tells you whether or not it is still active.

Paying of a debt terminates active collection authority, but does not require that a reported collection be deleted.

It still advises others that, at some point, a debt collector was assisting in collection on the debt.

Re: When I pay the Original Debtor instead of CA - does the CA still have rights to report?

sjt — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 16:34:54 GMT

@RobertEG wrote:
A reported collection does not require that it currrently be active (i.e., the debt remains unpaid).
A collection can be reported at any time after the debt collector obtains collection authority, and the reported current status of open or closed, paid or unpaid, along with the current balance, tells you whether or not it is still active.

Paying of a debt terminates active collection authority, but does not require that a reported collection be deleted.
It still advises others that, at some point, a debt collector was assisting in collection on the debt.

If the medical office recalls the debt, the collection can be removed from the CRA. It happened to a co-worker.

Re: When I pay the Original Debtor instead of CA - does the CA still have rights to report?

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 16:44:37 GMT

@sjt wrote:
@RobertEG wrote:
A reported collection does not require that it currrently be active (i.e., the debt remains unpaid).
A collection can be reported at any time after the debt collector obtains collection authority, and the reported current status of open or closed, paid or unpaid, along with the current balance, tells you whether or not it is still active.

Paying of a debt terminates active collection authority, but does not require that a reported collection be deleted.
It still advises others that, at some point, a debt collector was assisting in collection on the debt.
If the medical office recalls the debt, the collection can be removed from the CRA. It happened to a co-worker.

The recall has to be done prior to paying off the debt. What Robert is saying is, the collection agency can still report the debt since it was assigned and never recalled. They're just required to report it accurately. So, now that the debt is paid, they have to report a 0 balance. The debt can't be recalled anymore because there's nothing to recall, it's been paid.

Re: When I pay the Original Debtor instead of CA - does the CA still have rights to report?

Katheryne88 — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 22:36:04 GMT

Thanks everyone.
I had just successfully gotten Capital One and Synchrony to goodwill 2x 30day lates from my accounts and got encouraged to submit a goodwill to the Dr. Office.

maybe they can recall the debt even after it has been paid by some miracle.

Re: When I pay the Original Debtor instead of CA - does the CA still have rights to report?

sjt — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 05:09:16 GMT

@Katheryne88 wrote:
Thanks everyone.
I had just successfully gotten Capital One and Synchrony to goodwill 2x 30day lates from my accounts and got encouraged to submit a goodwill to the Dr. Office.

maybe they can recall the debt even after it has been paid by some miracle.

Congrats!

Who is the collection agency?

Re: When I pay the Original Debtor instead of CA - does the CA still have rights to report?

Katheryne88 — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 12:41:17 GMT

@sjt Simon's Agency - they're terrible and abusive. I've dealt with some very nice and understanding collections agency in the past. Not this one.

Re: When I pay the Original Debtor instead of CA - does the CA still have rights to report?

sjt — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 00:41:17 GMT

@Katheryne88 wrote:
@sjt Simon's Agency - they're terrible and abusive. I've dealt with some very nice and understanding collections agency in the past. Not this one.

Submit a complaint:

https://paysimons.com/contact/

Also, how long from the time you were contacted by them to when you paid the. They mentioned in their website they wait 90 days before they report to the CRA.

Re: When I pay the Original Debtor instead of CA - does the CA still have rights to report?

Katheryne88 — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 00:47:40 GMT

@sjt I was never contacted by them, I saw the charges in collections and signed into the patient portal from the Drs office and paid through there right away. They're charges from May of 2018.
Only reporting to Equifax.

Re: When I pay the Original Debtor instead of CA - does the CA still have rights to report?

sjt — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 21:29:38 GMT

@Katheryne88 wrote:
@sjt I was never contacted by them, I saw the charges in collections and signed into the patient portal from the Drs office and paid through there right away. They're charges from May of 2018.
Only reporting to Equifax.

That's odd. Usually, when a medical office sends bills to collections, they agree to always let the collection agency handle payment unless they recall the debt. I'm wondering if the doctor's office cancelled the relationship with the collection agency and they didnt remove the collections. Also, the collections agency usually reports to all three CRA.
I would contact the doctor's office and tell them you only knew about the bill when you happened to check your credit report. Request that they have the collection agency delete the tradeline.