Credit Report – Remove Indication of Unpaid Debt?

Question

I’ve always had excellent credit. My chiropractor recently went bankrupt and his office closed. All his billing records were turned over to a collection agency. This agency decided that I owed hundreds of dollars. I sent them photocopies of the receipts showing that in fact I paid all my bills as they came due. They are not buying it, apparently because they don’t know how to read and interpret a “Provider Explanation of Benefits” form. I find this astonishing. They said they put a black mark on my credit and I believe it because now I am getting junk phone calls from people who say they want to help me improve my credit by having me take out a loan and repay it. I’m not going to do that. My question is--how do I remove the black mark? Please don’t just say “Contact the credit agencies.” What are they and how do I do that? How do I present my case? Also, I want to avoid inadvertently getting enrolled in some program that will cost me money each month. Thanks for your help

Answer 1

If I was in the "kill a collection agent" business, this is exactly the case I'd take up.

The other answers are on the right track, but they are still not right. It's depressing because I have posted this answer dozens of times.

OK everyone, listen up. There are only two ways to get a negative item off a credit report.

1) The creditor must delete it.
2) The creditor fails to respond to a credit bureau investigation.

So for this answer we look at #2. Why are the other answers wrong? Because the don't know and understand the system.

When you dispute a report, all the credit bureau is required to do is contact the creditor, give them your information, and request that it be re-investigated. The creditor is required to respond to this request. But all they have to do is "verify" that the entry is correct. No real investigation is ever done. The creditor simply has to say the information is correct, and the entry will stay on your report.

But if you listen to my advice, I can GUARANTEE that you will get this removed from your report. And if it's not done, I can GUARANTEE that you can win a simple lawsuit for $1000 against the collection agent.

I am not a lawyer, credit counselor or in the credit repair business. I help people all the time with these issues and don't charge a dime. Some day I need to type all this up and put it on a web page, so I don't have to constantly type this out.

Follow these instructions carefully. The key to winning is you MUST follow a specific procedure, as outlined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Links to info, sample templates, and other stuff is listed below. Be sure to document everything you do, keep copies of letters, and send everything by certified mail/return receipt so you can prove they were notified.


1) Get a free copy of your credit reports from http://www.annualcreditreport.com You want to get all three reports (Experian, Equifax, Transunion)

2) Send a dispute letter by certified mail/return receipt to each credit bureau listing this on your history.

3) At the same time, send a "demand to validate" letter to the collection agency. Be sure to send them (Yes, again...) a copy of the proof you have that the bills were paid.

"Validation" is a lot different then "Verification" in that they must supply you with all copies of contracts, bills, receipts, and everything they used to calculate what they claim you owe. They must also address the evidence you supplied and explain why they believe it does not contribute to their validation calculations.

4) Wait 30 days. You will get a response from the credit bureau saying it has been investigated, and the result.

5) Within 30 days you must get validation from the collection agency.

6) At this point if this has not been removed from your credit history, it's because the creditor has "verified" the debt with them. Legally they are saying that yes, you do owe the bill and they will continue to post this to your history.

If the creditor did not send you "validation" proof, then your last step is to send another letter to the credit bureau and explain that this debt was not "validated". Inform them that they are listing unvalidated information to your credit report and if it's not removed you will include them in your lawsuit.

If it's still not removed within 15 days, you have now fulfilled all legal requirements. You can now sue everyone for $1000, plus any damages this listing has caused you (loss of credit, higher interest rates, etc).

Filing a small claims suit is very simple to do. You do not need a lawyer, and it should not cost more then $50 depending on the state you live in.

Contact me if you need further help. Remember as long as you have the proof they are wrong, it s like winning the lottery! You will win your suit. I've done it myself and have helped many others do it.

Answer 2

If you go on Transunion (one of the 3 credit report agancies) you can sign up for the free 30 day credit report. If you decide to keep it it's only 9.99 a month. Anyways after you sign up, you answer a few question that only you should know and then you can see your credit report. See if they did put it on your credit, also make sure there aren't any other discrepensies... You can then dispute that account online. Transunion sends them a notification that they have to show proof that you have been delinquent in payment or have a balance, within 30 days. If they fail to do this it will be taken off your credit. If they do send something in writing proving you owe them money you can dispute it with your statements, etc.
I found it easier to do it thorough the agency, because then I don't feel like the middle person. Ok, I hoped this helped... Good luck!

Answer 3

Use this form and mail it to the address of the THREE bureaus as listed in the link.

The three bureaus would be Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. As stated before, their addresses are in the content of the hyperlink below.

Send the letters to all THREE credit bureaus CERTIFIED. You do not need to pay for "return-receipt-requested". Should the bureaus give you a hard time, you just need to prove that you sent the items via the United States Postal Service. Sending letters certified (and keeping the receipt) evidences this and you will start getting results.

State the same thing you have said in this e-mail and ATTACH the COPIES of the receipts to all three letters as EVIDENCE that you have, in fact, paid the items.

The credit bureaus will force the collection agency to provide proof that your claim is invalid and somehow, the collection agency will have to address the truthfulness of your receipts all within 30 days.

If the collection agency can't do this within the time allotted, the credit bureaus will remove this information from your credit record because the collection agaency "failed to respond".

Good luck.

Answer 4

Once your negative accounts are removed from your credit report, there is no way they can affect your credit negatively anymore. You may see a slight increase in your credit. However, you need to know that the longer an account is on your record, the less of an affect it has on your overall credit score. So even thought it is off completely, your score may not rise as much as you would think.

Answer 5

Sorry you don't want to hear this, but when there is WRONG information on your credit report, you have to contact the three credit reporting agencies. Send them proof that their information is wrong. Send them copies of everything you have showing that they are wrong. Since it is indeed wrong, they will not be able to prove that it is correct, and they will by law have to remove it.

This strategy of course does not work if you just don't like what is on your credit report, even though it is true. The information has to be false for this to work.

Answer 6

It is a long process but one that can be done. You must contact the credit agencies and prove to them that these bills were paid. TransUnion, Experian and Equifax are the three major credit reporting agencies. They all have websites and phone numbers where you can dispute these charges.

Answer 7

The only way I have heard was to contact an attorney to have it removed.

Answer 8

Try https://tr.im/1lFP1