First time collection ($50). Freaked out

[Anonymous]

Hi yall

Soo.. I was in the UK for about 6 months last year and a small invoice of $50 with Labcorp (medical labs) was sent to my old address. Anyways I saw a notice on my CreditCarma report this week.

It seems Labcorp turned this over to a CA called "CENTRAL CREDIT SERVICES" from Jacksonville, Fl.

I phone the OC, Labcorp, and they said I could pay the $50 and they would inform the CA to remove the collection. I wasn't sure what this means. The agent couldnt confirm it would mean no evidence would show up on my history.

Kind of bummed because I had a perfect credit history until now. I'm just so worried about going about it the wrong way and having a permanent ding on record, you know?

Any suggestions would be super comforting

[RobertEG]

"Remove the collection" would only have one plain meaning.... they will report deletion of the collection if you pay the debt.

That is an oral contract that is binding should the reneg.

[gameofthrones]

I would suggest sending them a pay for delete letter via certified mail. Definitely make sure that you get this "promise" from them in writing, otherwise they are not likely to honor the verbal agreement.

Also, due to recent law, I believe that CRA's do not count debts under $100 negatively on your credit reports. Someone else on the boards may verify this statement.

[Anonymous]

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@gameofthroneswrote:

I would suggest sending them a pay for delete letter via certified mail. Definitely make sure that you get this "promise" from them in writing, otherwise they are not likely to honor the verbal agreement.

Also, due to recent law, I believe that CRA's do not count debts under $100 negatively on your credit reports. Someone else on the boards may verify this statement.

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Who should I send the PFD letter too - The OC or the CA?

As for not counting debts below $100. My transunion score already dropped 25 points

[Anonymous]

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@RobertEGwrote:

"Remove the collection" would only have one plain meaning.... they will report deletion of the collection if you pay the debt.

That is an oral contract that is binding should the reneg.

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Thanks. I hope this is the case.

[gameofthrones]

Credit Karma uses a different scoring model called VantageScore; it is not FICO. I did confirm that debts less than $100 will not effect your FICO 8 score. How is the payment history reporting on your CRAs, and are both the OC and CA reporting on them? Are either reporting as a charge-off?

You were asking if you should send the PFD letter to the OC or the CA. The answer is send to the CA assuming that the debt has been sold off to them from the OC. There are articles that you can find on the web that will guide you on how to deal with a CA. After the CA has received the funds they should immediately delete the entries from your CRAs immediately per the agreement. Next step would be to contact the OC and request them to delete; because although there may be 2 separate accounts reporting, it is essentially one debt in the same. Keep copies of all of your correspondence as a back up. Wouldn’t it suck if you paid the bill and the data remained on your CRA’s?

Also, here is an article on a state by state statute of limitations for medical bills that you may find helpful:
https://www.thebalance.com/state-by-state-list-of-statute-of-limitations-on-debt-960881

[gdale6]

For unpaid medical debt that is reporting on your CR:

1. Call the OC and see if you qualify for Charity Care
2. If not then ask that they recall the collection in exchange for full payment
3. Send the reporting CA a PFD offer
4. Google the HIPAA Process and contact its creator for help