Melanie, maybe this will help-
I started with 27 collections, of that 25 were medical collections. It took me exactly 1 year to delete EVERYTHING (12/11-12-12) I wrote several GW letters to the hospitals directly explaining my situation, they have the ability to remove everything if not a portion of the debt (some discounted 85%). The dr's portion is a little more difficult to remove but it can be done through a GW then a PFD letter to the OC or the CA (see below)
If by chance you have a limited income, I.e. disability, below the poverty level (a lot of people are) or are unemployed that will only help your case. Even if you do not just explaining you have..how many was it? 29? Explain that in your letter.
Additionally, send your letters to the OC directly, the CA will not do anything until the debt is deleted then send them a PFD letter if they own it. Make sure you are also sending DV letters before you pay anything, some will not respond to your DV and it will be deleted..worth a shot, right?
Hope this will help also:
The next important step is finding out who owns the debt, the OC or the CA?
If both the OC and CA are reporting, does the OC show a balance? When an OC sells an account, they have to report a $0 balance. If they still own the account, both the OC and the CA can report a balance.
If the OC still owns the account, I would call them first and ask if they could pull the account back from collections and allow you to PIF. If they agree then you need to pay them in full and then send the CA a DV.
If the OC doesn’t own the account, then the OC isn’t going to be able to do anything for you. You have to deal with the CA.
Send a DV letter CMRRR to the CA. (DV's are never sent to the OC). You then have to play the waiting game. A CA is under no time limit to answer a DV but all collection activity must stop until they do respond. If you happen to live in Texas you can file a "Notice of Inaccuracy" that compels a CA to respond within 30 days. See Texas finance code.
If they validate properly and you agree with what they sent, then you would want to send a PFD letter. It doesn’t need to be sent CMRRR. If you get no response or a negative response from your PFD letter, I would search the internet for the names of vice presidents, presidents, managers, etc and address the letter to them. Also look for email addresses and send via email. Google and the BBB are great places to look.
Hope this helps Melanie. Send me a pm if you have any other concerns.
CS 728- 01/13 from 554-12/11
Goal: 800