Dispute question

[Anonymous]

Long post, but want to make sure I give all info. I have a collection listed on my credit report with TransUnion and Equifax. The original creditor is a hospital and the amount is $98. I wanted to pay this balance off, so I called the hospital to find out which CA would have the account. The billing department was unable to find any information about a delinquent account, but gave me the name of a collection agency that possibly would have gotten the account. They had no record of me. So, I called the hospital again and a manager was unable to find info on the collection either, but gave me the name of another CA that may possibly have gotten my account. I also asked about how I would get documentation from them to help me dispute the collection in my report, in the event the second agency had no info. She told me the name of the department (HIM) I would need to contact for that. Anyhow, called second CA. Nothing. So I called the HIM department and they have not gotten back with me. After reviewing my credit report further, I noticed the date of collection was 2018 and I have not had any services from that hospital since 2016. 

My question is, is it better to get documentation from the hospital stating they have no information on the account before I file a dispute? Would that help speed up the process significantly or am I better off filing the dispute now, instead of waiting for someone in HIM to get back with me? I would really like to get this off my report ASAP, as I would like to apply for a loan.

Thanks in advance! 

[DaveInAZ]

If the collection is on your credit report doesn't it list the name & contact info of the CA? And I take it the CA hasn't contacted you directly to try to collect?

The normal procedure for a CA collection is a Debt Validation letter, but for only $98 and you want it gone to apply for a loan, if you can find the CA get them to agree for a Pay For Deletion, get them to agree in writing they will delete the collection from your reports on payment in full. And the likely reason for the 2018 date is that is when they bought the debt, and the only documentation the CA needs is that they legally own the debt, that the hospital no longer has any info doesn't matter.

And jeez, for $98 most hospitals would write if off, they probably got a whole $5-10 selling it to a CA.

[Anonymous]

There is something on the report. It says "Credmgmtcntl" for agency, with no other account or contact information, which was why I thought I would have better luck by contacting the hospital directly. I did a search and found the name of the business so I can contact them on Monday to ask for verification. 
When I spoke with the person in the hospital billing, she was able to list off dates (just office visits, so there wouldn't be multiple service providers) and billing information, and there was no record of a charge for that amounts. Wouldnt they have some record of an unpaid balance? Does it completely disappear from the hospital records when sent to collections, and from the CA records if sold to another agency? I don't know how this works. 

Edit to add: I don't believe I've been contacted regarding this debt. I haven't seen anything in the mail. It's possible they may have tried to contact by phone but I don't answer calls from unknown numbers. 

[Anonymous]

The CA probably purchased dozens of accounts from the hospital when it purchased your debt. Usually, a small collection it is given to a new collection clerk. Programmed phone calls would be made vs. mailings though there was probably one notice mailed via third class mail. Are the CR your looking at from Credit Karma? You may wish to check the complete report directly from the credit bureau. It may contain more contact info. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Purely from a fico score point of view - from what i have learned, collections under 100 are ignored for scoring. If you google "fico 8 vs fico 9", you will find this mentioned. 

That out of the way, it sounds to me like the CA will likely have a hard time validating this. 

[Anonymous]

Yeah I was going to say the same thing, on version 8 it doesn’t count, but it will affect the 5-4-2 auto scores if they use those.

Find a lender that uses version 8 auto scores.

Or you can pay it and then version 9 will also ignore it, but 542 is still going to penalize you, until it falls off.

[Anonymous]

I reached out to the CA and they were able to validate. They provided information on the date of service, provider and reason for visit. I don't know why the hospital wasn't able to find a collection in their records, but the CA said the original amount owed was different from the collection amount, which may explain why the hospital wasn't able to find anything for $98. I just went ahead and paid it. They emailed me a deletion letter, so it should be off my report within 90 days. 

[Sox]

Anything under a 100 is considered a nuisance and not factored into most scoring, especially fico 8.

[AndySoCal]

It is better off the report . Keep in mind some of the FICO socres for mortage loans factor in this type of collection account,.

[Anonymous]

Pretty much all the old versions count all collections, version 8 doesn’t count under $100, version 9 doesn’t count paid collections, there you go.