Hi there: I'm so happy there is this form/outlet for my situation. I cannot thank you all enough, in advance, as I know you all are passionate and know what you're talking about here. I'll be brief, as I know you guys only care about 'the facts'. -I finished grad school about a year ago, couldn't find a job, am living at home (I'm 29 years old), starting on another grad degree as well as my dream job at the very end of August. All that to say-I'm broke, completely and totally, but DO pay ALL of my bills on time and maintain my finances (meager though they may be!) well. -Just found out that a medical bill from July 2006 (incurred in Texas) has gone to collections. I was (foolishly, I know now) paying $10 a month on it faithfully. I never missed a payment though, and have documentation of this. -In October 2009, this collections outfit (in Florida) torpedoed my credit. They said they attempted to contact me (I'd moved a couple of times since the hospital visit, within Texas) but I only found out post facto that my credit had been affected. I remember getting ONE of these letters, in December of 2009, right before I moved back to Tennessee. -I talked to the collections outfit yesterday and they said there was nothing they would or could do to fix my credit-my fault, I'm to blame, I'm an evil person, etc. They'll settle (obviously!), and will continue to hit my credit every month until I do settle. But again-they'll do nothing to fix what has already hit my credit. -I did nothing wrong here-it seems to me they jumped on the 'nuclear option' to get my attention and get me to contact them so as to try and collect this debt, which I agree-I legitimately owe; I just haven't been able to, since or now, pay it in full. I'll make payments, substantially higher (heck, $100-200 a month, if that will get this off my credit and me in someone's good graces) but this outfit said unambiguously that NO monthly payment amount would stop this negative reporting on my credit every month. Settling with them was the ONLY option. Okay, I tried to keep it brief, really I did. Any advice? Are they in the wrong here? Is there ANY way I can get my credit repaired? I'm a young guy, just getting started in life... and these guys have dealt me a hard, hard blow over what I feel to be a technicality. I'm in quite over my head. (Oh, and is it of any consequence that my credit report does not list this as a medical debt, but just a generic collections debt? I've read conflicting things.) My main concern here is over the damage already done-I've got a few options, going forward, but I want to get the damage repaired first and ASAP, then make plans for going forward. Seriously, thank you all.
Welcome to the forum...we're glad to have you! If you never missed a payment on this medical debt, then I'm confused as to why it's in the hands of a CA. Can you clear this up for us? What kind of documentation do you have to prove that you always made payments on time? Also, do you know if the CA owns this debt or if they're just collecting on behalf of the OC? If you're not sure, you should contact the hospital first and find that out, as it will have an impact on how you deal with them going forward. Negotiating a settlement that includes them removing the negative mark from your reports isn't going to happen if you don't have the funds available to pay them a lump sum. Also, CAs aren't in the business of credit repair, so it will be up to you throughout this process to make decisions with your credit scores in mind as well. Remember, a "paid" collection is essentially just as bad for your credit scores as an "unpaid" collection. You're young and have many years left to build your credit history, so don't let this get you down. Anyway, give us some more details, and then we'll go from there.
They don't appear to be in the wrong. Unpleasant, perhaps, but not "wrong." You ran up charges at a hospital and, for whatever reason, they weren't paid in full. The hospital sent your bill to collections (so someone else could deal with it), the collectors sent you a note, you didn't answer (again, for whatever reason), so they reported your account to the CRAs (which they are legally allowed, if not obligated, to do). You see your torpedoed credit and rush to repay the account, which is exactly the reaction they were hoping for. Unfortunately, your openness and honesty is working against you. You told them that this is your account and you want to pay it. So, now, they cannot remove it because it has been reported AND you've verified that it's accurate. The rules between the CRA and the CA prevent the CA from removing the account just because it's been paid. They can only mark it as having been paid. The CA is obligated to report the data accurately. Fact. You didn't pay the account on time. Fact. It was sent to collections. Fact. It was accurately reported to the CRA. Fact. It's going to be there until 2013. Fact. It's not the end of the world. Fact. If it's small, the new scoring models won't consider it (regardless of what the "free" scores suggest). So, unless you want to get all litigious on them (which is still an option), just pay it (or not, either way, you'll have a collection account on your report until 2013) and contest it in a couple of years as obsolete to see if they'll remove it. If you pay it, it'll be marked as paid and if you really want a loan, you can just talk to the loan officer and tell him or her what happened.
Hey guys: Thanks for the replies. I've heard pretty much the same thing from an attorney friend and from other folks on boards like this-I'm just stuck between a rock and a hard place. It's all legal and on the up and up, even if the CA's behavior has been morally odious. Oh well. Only question is, should I continue to pay either the CA or the original debtor (the hospital) until I pay the CA's settlement amount (which I'll be able to do October or so of this year)? I mean, can the CA do anything WORSE to my credit than they already have, short of litigation (which my attorney friend said was EXTRAORDINARILY unlikely over this level of debt)? It seems like it's gotten as bad as it is gonna get, credit-wise, right? They're gonna keep nailing my credit monthly all the same until I've paid the settlement, right? Again, I'll pay them off, settlement wise, but I can't do it until things have settled a bit more for me financially (and the CA will NOT take payments on a settlement, btw). Thanks.
