I have an unpaid medical bill of $1500 from six years ago. I disputed it because the hospital "lost" all of my records and charged me for services I did not receive. This account was marked "disputed" and I never had trouble with it since then. Then all of a sudden, today I receive a notice that this account is again in collections (???) starting June 11, 2007. My credit score dropped from 730 to 650!
I am wondering if I should pay this off, or should I let another year go by. I have heard that after seven years, the collections record removed from your account. However, I am wondering if they can just keep updating this collection record every few years and make it "new" again (in other words, even if I pay if off, will it be on my credit report seven years from 2007??)
I have gotten nowhere trying to prove that I got overcharged about $800 on this bill. Any advice on what I should do?
Thank you in advance!
2007-06-12 03:48:12 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
I forgot to add that I have another credit report from 2005 that shows this SAME collection agency having been assigned my case in 2003. So how can they "renew" this case about my debt?
2007-06-12 04:03:26 · update #1
Your debtor 'sold' your debt to a collection agency for pennies on the dollar. The debtor now has a few bucks of what you owed, and the collection agency is going to go after the remainder.
Now that collection proceedings have commenced, you're on the hook for another seven years AFTER its final resolution. So basically, your credit file will contain this information until about 2014.
Your first error was in not concluding your argument about being overcharged properly. Without such a resolution, the A/R department of the medical facility will not reduce the charges. When it was sold to the collection agency, it was sold for full value. You are STILL in the position of proving incorrect charges, plus you now have to deal with a collection agency.
2007-06-12 03:59:38 · answer #1 · answered by acermill 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Creditors are not allowed to Re-Age debts no matter how many times they sell/transfer it to collection agencies.
You need to send a validation letter to them stating that you want proof of the debt that they say you owe. This includes all bills and payments on the account. You don't have to prove that they overcharged you, they need to prove that you owe it. If the original hospital lost your records there is a very good chance that they won't be able to do this. Until they do this they are not allowed to contact you again about the debt.
If they do not validate the debt you can then send a letter to the Credit Reporting Agencies stating that you requested validation and did not receive it. At this time they will remove the record from your report.
If they do send you the proof you would have to go from there in trying to dispute it.
2007-06-12 04:13:33 · answer #2 · answered by OC1999 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
All of the above is correct AND...if you make so much as a $5 payment on the account, it renews it and they can collect on it for another 7 years.
If you don't need anything credit wise in the next year, I'd write a cease and disist letter to the collection agency and the creditor. They have to stop calling you then. They can send mail still, but it's easier to throw that away.
2007-06-12 04:43:59 · answer #3 · answered by Stephanie J 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Ready for the irony...if you pay it, you will show an extremely late payment and, as recentactivity, that may hurt your score more.
Good news....some lenders don't use the straight score and will actually read the report and won't hold it against you.
2007-06-12 04:27:11 · answer #4 · answered by Ted 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if disputed then, tell them again what happened..
2007-06-12 05:05:01 · answer #5 · answered by shorty21 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋