Paid Collection - West Asset Management

[Anonymous]

Wondering if anyone has experience dealing with West Asset Management out of Selma, Texas? I had a collection account with them from an emergency room visit that was not honored by my insurance company. Prior to educating myself on credit and the practices of collection agencies, I went ahead and paid the debt in full without requesting the debt no longer be reported to the bureaus. So, now I have a Paid Collection for about $250 hanging around on my reports. Obviously, it's tough going trying to reach the upper level of scoring with ANY collection notations. I have disputed the account with the bureaus and all of them have verified the accounts. I am assuming verification is obtained via the CA. I have since contacted them (West)and they asked that I send a letter asking to have any dispute with the debt removed from their records. Apparently, once the dispute is removed on their side, they will no longer verify the account when I dispute with the CA's. I just don't understand why, when a consumer makes the effort to pay the debt in full, these CA's continue to report the debt to the bureaus? Obviously, if I have paid the debt, I am not disputing its' validity! Does this request from the CA sound legit?

[Anonymous]

Nope. It doesn't. At least, not with OUR experience.

We've got WAM on our CRs, too for a debt incurred in '04 (medical). We paid it immediately (once we realize it was in collections -- didn't know about the bill prior, just thought our insurance paid it). They promised to remove the entire notation from our CRs once we paid in full (which we did).

Guess what? 4 years later it's still there.

So, since they DID say that it would be removed and it wasn't, we called them and wrote them and asked them to please remove the file as they said they would at time of payment. They said to dispute with the CRAs and they would simply not verify.

Guess what? They VERIFIED. So the 4 old collection became "new" in the eyes of FICO and our scores dropped. Lovely, huh?

Soooo ... long story short, use the HIPAA process. WAM may be a bunch of jerks, but they're not STUPID jerks.

Medical-Collections-B-Gone

[Anonymous]

Well, turns out the requested letter scenario from my initial post was just bs from some rep that answered the phone. I sent the letter I was instructed to send via certified mail, received confirmation of receipt and then heard nothing back. I called them today (at the same office I had spoken with at the time of my initial post) and was told that there would never be an active dispute on file for a paid account. I was then told that it is against corporate policy for the paid collection to be removed from my credit reports. I was also told that there is nothing that can be done to get them to stop verifying the original debt as valid when I dispute the account with the bureaus. When I asked for an explanation as to why I am hearing this now, since I spoke with someone there on an earlier date who requested my latest action, the person on the line told me that I could not have talked to anyone in Selma as they just don't do what I am asking. According to the person I spoke with today, they are not contracted to remove anything from the credit report. Obviously, this is called the old "end around" play. I KNOW that this cannot be true and I really want to WIN this battle! I'm trying to find out if the HIPAA process here applies to my situation, but I need help! Thanks in advance to anyone that can lend assistance.

[Anonymous]

We're having a very similar situation with West Asset. I found them listed on DH's CR in early 2007. I immediately called them (I didn't know better!) and made payment arrangements for this medical debt we'd thought had been paid by Workers Comp. So it's still on his CR and no amount of GWs has made any difference with them.

Just started the HIPAA process this week with the bureaus.

I hate WAM. Let us know of your progress!

[Anonymous]

I have begun the HIPPA process, mailed the Pre-HIPPA letters to the big 3. I'll keep everyone posted.

[Anonymous]

West Asset Management is an aweful organization.  They repeatedly violate the FDCPA.  They "lose" or "don't recieve" fax communications.  Any certified mail I sent was either sent back or ignored.  They only advice I can give you it to attempt to catch them breaking the law (which is hard) and then take them to court.

[Anonymous]

I'm not surprised really. They do business with South Austin Hospital which is also a horrible organization. Birds of a feather and all. It just bugs me so much that the hospital never attempted to contact me regarding the debt (beyond contact with my insurer) and flipped it right to a CA. Where are the consumer protections against this type of thing? Shouldn't we have the option to pay the darned hospitals/doctors when insurace won't without having to deal with a CA? If I'd only been contacted, there would never have been an issue. And I really just cannot understand this CA's penchant for leaving collection items on folks' reports for as long as the law allows. Very frustrating, to say the least, how an old $200 paid collection can count against me today, in any way.

[Anonymous]

So, I received my first response from one of the CRA's. TransUnion sent me a form letter thanking me for contacting them and stating that their goal is to maintain complete and accurate information on consumer credit reports. Also, if I would like to contact a creditor, I should call the phone numbers provided.

Should I consider this the verification of the account and proceed with sending off the Alternative Med DV Letter to the CA? There is ZERO detail on this letter regarding any of my accounts on the report.

[llecs]

Some here are very knowledgable on the HIPAA process. If you haven't done so, check it out.

BUMP

[Anonymous]

Well, WAM can just go somewhere. I had my scores pulled for mortgage purposes and my mid score was 677 even with their BS Paid Collection showing.

I'm still going to pursue removal of the notation, but it really isn't effecting me enough to be obsessed.

House hunting with the wife this weekend! YAY!