topic Paid medical collection returned to credit report 5 months later - how to proceed? in Rebuilding Your Credit

Paid medical collection returned to credit report 5 months later - how to proceed?

JM761 — Sat, 10 Sep 2022 15:19:29 GMT

Hello everyone,

Looking for guidance on how to proceed to clear up this issue as efficiently as possible.

In April 2022, I paid settled on a medical debt ($650 --> $455). We settled because the debt was old (Date of service: Sept 2016). In addition, I paid a smaller, more recent medical collection for $15. Total was ~$470. I paid 4/29/22.

In May, the collection fell off my account and my score shot up.

Today, out of the blue, the collection is back. I saw it on CreditKarma and then confirmed by pulling my report from annualcreditreport.com.

It says "unpaid". Same DOS. Same collection agency. Same amount ($650). The only thing that that looks different is in the comments is says "GS". No clue what that means?

Obviously, my score dropped.

I know I need to dispute but not sure if I should go directly to Equifax, where the collection appeared, or if I should wait until Monday and reach out to Credit Center Inc (CCI), the CA, who are closed this weekend.

Any suggestions? I'm so bummed. I know it will bounce back but we are in the process of figuring out a loan for the roof, etc. I don' t want to wait until October.

Thanks in advance!

Re: Paid medical collection returned to credit report 5 months later - how to proceed?

JM761 — Sun, 11 Sep 2022 02:27:10 GMT

I wanted to add:

I have proof of the $15 charge via receipt. I do not have a receipt for the $650. I do have the settled amount ($455) on my credit card statement though. Will that be enough proof?

Re: Paid medical collection returned to credit report 5 months later - how to proceed?

sjt — Sun, 11 Sep 2022 02:58:53 GMT

@JM761 wrote:
I wanted to add:

I have proof of the $15 charge via receipt. I do not have a receipt for the $650. I do have the settled amount ($455) on my credit card statement though. Will that be enough proof?

Your credit card statement should be proof enough. Did you ever get an acknowledgment from the collection agency for the payment?

Contact the collection agency first.

Re: Paid medical collection returned to credit report 5 months later - how to proceed?

gdale6 — Sun, 11 Sep 2022 13:55:42 GMT

As stated contact the CA and remind them of the settlement you two agreed on, send them the proof (yes your CC statement is enough). If they dont come to their senses then file a BBB complaint against them for shoddy business practice and if this fails then move on to a CFPB complaint. Medicals must be deleted when paid and that includes a settlement.

Re: Paid medical collection returned to credit report 5 months later - how to proceed?

JM761 — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 17:39:43 GMT

Thanks, @gdale6 !

I took a few days to contact everyone and I'm just going in circles. At the same time, my husband's paid medical collection also came back on his report. Dropped his score by 45 points. His was a paid medical (PIF) for $170. There a isbsolutely no way this should be on his account (even if it wasn't paid).

The CA said my accounts are paid. They sent one receipt (for my husband) and I'm waiting on the other. They said all that info was sent to the CBs back in May. This alligns with what what occured in real life (not just "what they say would happen). The collections came off the report in May.

I told them they came back on and the CA was adament it wasn't them but they would send out another update at the end of the month and they would include my info in case it was a glitch on Equifax's side of things. They said they are getting quite a few of these calls. It was the best I could to.

Separately, I called Equifax and they said it wasnt them. They were insisting it's accurate. I explained multiple times that this was OFF my report and popped back on and it's paid. They weren't helpful. I filed a dispute for both. One online (my hsuband) and over the phone for me. Neither way would allow me to send documentation/proof.

is there anything else I can do to speed this along? I know we need the dispute process to work dropped an average of 40 points each are not going to help our chances of getting financing/loan for a roof. We were going to pull the trigger on that this weekend.

Any advice would be helpful!

Re: Paid medical collection returned to credit report 5 months later - how to proceed?

gdale6 — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 20:54:20 GMT

@JM761 wrote:
Thanks, @gdale6 !

I took a few days to contact everyone and I'm just going in circles. At the same time, my husband's paid medical collection also came back on his report. Dropped his score by 45 points. His was a paid medical (PIF) for $170. There a isbsolutely no way this should be on his account (even if it wasn't paid).

The CA said my accounts are paid. They sent one receipt (for my husband) and I'm waiting on the other. They said all that info was sent to the CBs back in May. This alligns with what what occured in real life (not just "what they say would happen). The collections came off the report in May.

I told them they came back on and the CA was adament it wasn't them but they would send out another update at the end of the month and they would include my info in case it was a glitch on Equifax's side of things. They said they are getting quite a few of these calls. It was the best I could to.

Separately, I called Equifax and they said it wasnt them. They were insisting it's accurate. I explained multiple times that this was OFF my report and popped back on and it's paid. They weren't helpful. I filed a dispute for both. One online (my hsuband) and over the phone for me. Neither way would allow me to send documentation/proof.

is there anything else I can do to speed this along? I know we need the dispute process to work dropped an average of 40 points each are not going to help our chances of getting financing/loan for a roof. We were going to pull the trigger on that this weekend.

Any advice would be helpful!

Time to file a CFPB complaint against the CRA for reporting a paid collection (failure to exclude it per new rules on paid medicals) and one that is not even supposed to be reported. The remedy you want to ask for is "permanent exclusion per new medical CA rules"

Re: Paid medical collection returned to credit report 5 months later - how to proceed?

JM761 — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 17:46:09 GMT

Thank you, @gdale6! I will start this process right now. I appreciate that you gaave me the exact wording.

I called CCI, the CA, again yesterday and today. .Last night, they said that the hospital's billing system has trouble sending to gmail so, even though we tried 2 different gmail addresses, he wanted a third non-gmail address to email the receipt. I gave him my work email. It didnt go through. I called this am and I think I scared ol' Dexter the CA rep on the phone. He has escalated the problem (ha.) and I told him I'm calling back at 3pm if I do not get the receipt by that time. So annoying!

Thanks for your help!

Re: Paid medical collection returned to credit report 5 months later - how to proceed?

JM761 — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 02:01:06 GMT

A quick update...

I have put in a complaint with CFPB for my account and my husband's account. The credit agency responded that they were still investigating and I have to wait. My husband's didn't go through for some reason, so I just retyped everything again and resubmitted.

I was hoping to get an update soon but they said it could take up to 60 days.

Re: Paid medical collection returned to credit report 5 months later - how to proceed?

JM761 — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 02:07:04 GMT

A 2nd quick update

I checked CreditKarma (I only use it for monitoring). It looks like the collection came off Equifax today. Hopefully it sticks this time! (I know it might be off pending results of investigation but I do not owe the money so I hope it stays off).

CK is a vantage score but it helps me see what has changed. I had dropped 37 points (vantage) and now I'm up 38.

I hope that means my score didn't change much when I refresh my Fico8 with Equifax in a week.

Thanks for the guidance. I hope my husband's comes off quickly.

Re: Paid medical collection returned to credit report 5 months later - how to proceed?

gdale6 — Sat, 24 Sep 2022 17:40:36 GMT

These guys try all the tricks in the book and they get away with it most of the time as many dont know how to take care of it. Glad you are getting it done, no creditor or CRA wants the CFPB on their back,

Re: Paid medical collection returned to credit report 5 months later - how to proceed?

7774x — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 02:35:30 GMT

@sjt wrote:
@JM761 wrote:
I wanted to add:

I have proof of the $15 charge via receipt. I do not have a receipt for the $650. I do have the settled amount ($455) on my credit card statement though. Will that be enough proof?

Your credit card statement should be proof enough. Did you ever get an acknowledgment from the collection agency for the payment?

Contact the collection agency first.

If you have proof ..dispute it.. I had same problem with Discover .. disputed it .. EX took 3 days ,EQ took 4 days ... each also removed listing from CR ...Ex 3 months early & EQ 4 months early