Medical Starting Point

[Anonymous]

Okay, I have two out of the three credit bureau reports and here are what they show for medical collections that I have....  I've been fighting with Equifax for two weeks now about getting my free credit report and so far, still no luck....    Today's representative told me I should either buy one or just call their automated  line and claim I was denied credit.....  So my next step is probably to buy that one.

Would like your opinions on how to proceed with the collections listed below and what effect these are having on my credit score.

Other information is yes, I do have the money right now to pay all of these in full.  Thanks for any help!

Experian Collections 

Dr. Office 1 

Medical $34 – opened 8/2007

Medical $156 – opened2/2008

Medical $40 – opened 1/2008

Medical $33 – opened 1/2008

  Dr. Office 2 

Medical $153 – opened 9/2006

  Trans Union 

Dr. Office 1 

Medical $156 – opened 2/2008

 Dr. Office 2 

Medical $153 – opened 9/2006

 Dr. Office 3 

Medical $185 – opened 7/2004 will be removed 11/20

[fused]

Welcome to the forums!

Since many of these collections are recent, its safe to say they are having a major impact on your scores. My only question is can you afford to pay these collections in full if you have to? I assume you're no longer seeing any of these doctors.

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much for the welcome!

Yes, I think buried somewhere in my post I had listed that I do have the money to pay for these in full and no, I don't see any of these doctors/surgeons any longer.

Thanks!

-Brandi

[fused]

Here are the first few steps in the HIPAA letter process.

1.) You must Opt Out of two things: Your Credit Reports and All Creditors. The first one ensures that the CRAs will not sell your personal data to anyone else (haha…no more data mining). The second one will prevent JDBs (and CAs) from buying and selling bogus collections.

Use this link to opt-out of your credit reports

OPT-OUT CREDIT REPORTS (or call 1.888.567.8688)

Use this link to opt-out from all of your CURRENT creditors that you're in GOOD standing with. Do not attempt to opt-out with any CAs or current creditors that you're in BAD standing with (i.e. charge-offs, or currently late).

OPT-OUT ALL CREDITORS

2.) Also, be sure to update your personal information with the CRA's before doing any credit repair. Having former addresses deleted is beneficial.

3.) Send the pre-HIPAA dispute letter to the CRA ('s) CM (no RR, this is the only letter in the HIPAA process where you will not send it CMRRR) and wait up to 35 days for the results of the CRA(s) investigation(s). Be sure to handwrite this letter and use personalized stationary. If your med collection is deleted, you're finished. If its not deleted, post again in this thread before proceeding with the HIPAA letter process.

PRE-HIPAA MEDICAL DISPUTE LETTER

[Anonymous]

Hi fused--

Thanks so much for the info...  I have already completed the first two steps...  Here are my only questions about the process (thus far).

1.  For Step 2 - do I have to wait any amount of time before moving forward or is this more of a long term protection type of a thing?  Is there a way to tell if this has been completed?

2.  How many dispute letters do I send?  I'm assuming that I send one for each collection listed?  For example, for Experian Doctor 1 - would I send 4 different letters?

3.  Should I do this for ALL collections, even the one listed on T/U as Dr. Office 3 which is older from 2004?

Thanks for your help!

[fused]

1.) While in credit repair mode, its best to sign-up with a credit monitoring service that allows daily pulls of your reports. CreditCheckTotal , while I have never used this service, is liked by many forum members. Its pricey, but its also one of very few credit monitoring service that allows you to pull all three of your reports daily. Please keep in mind the scores at that sight are NOT FICO, they are FAKO, and they have no have no use to you. Ignore them! Pay attention to your FICO scores at this site, these are the ones lenders, CCCs and banks use. Step 2 is important, wait until you finish this step before you send out the pre-HIPAA medical dispute letters.

2.) You write one letter for each collection, you can place multiple letters in one envelop to each CRA though.

3.) Its up to you on how many med collections you want to tackle at once. If you have the time, go for it and do all of them at once. If you find this is too many collections to work on all at once, start with the most recent ones, these are the ones that are tanking your credit.

[Anonymous]

Hi Fused--

I just re-read what I wrote and your answer about Step 2 and realized I wasn't clear....  What I was trying to ask was after I send out the letters in Step 2, is there anything that I can do to verify the creditors I sent it to in good standing took action?  And if so, should I wait until I hear from these creditors before moving forward with writing the pre-hippa letters for any of these verifications.

Thank you for your information and very quick responses...  I do have the time and the desire to take on all the collections because I want them GONE!

Thanks again!

[fused]

---

fused wrote:

Welcome to the forums!

Since many of these collections are recent, its safe to say they are having a major impact on your scores. My only question is can you afford to pay these collections in full if you have to? I assume you're no longer seeing any of these doctors.

---

Boy, was that a stupid question! Sorry!

[fused]

Its unlikely your creditors will inform you of the change, I know its strange. Keep copies of EVERYTHING when doing credit repair. Once you send off the opt-out letters and your addresses are updated on your reports, then you can send the pre-HIPAA dispute letters.

[Anonymous]

No, don't be sorry!!!  I was probably rambling a bit at the beginning and it might have just been lost in the post!  I REALLY appreciate all your help!