I know this is a dumb question but here goes anyway. I have several collection accounts on my report and want to dispute them as paid when services rendered. What's the best way to phrase that? Any particular line work better than another.
Did you actually pay for the services when rendered? Did you pay cash or by check? Either way, if it was at a physician's office, they should have a copy of your office visit receipt which includes the diagnosis code(s). As long as it's the truth, don't worry about a "line". Type up a draft with your proof & we'll give you some feedback.
actually, I didn't. What I want is to buy a little time and think I will be able to make a deal with creditor. Should I maybe dispute as not mine?
Rina, this has me a little concerned. Besides the moral issue is there another reason I should be concerned, legal?
Technically, it is against the law to "lie" to a cra. I don't know what the punishment is if caught. However, moral issues aside, people lie to the cra's all the time and nothing happens. Instead of saying not mine, why not go with something like "I am unaware of this acct. - please delete" That way you aren't flat out lying that it isn't yours, you are saying you don't know what it is. That doesn't mean you are lying.
Ok, I can understand about buying time 1 1/2 years ago I ended up in the hospital the last day of school & had no insurance & no job. It resulted in $27K of hospital bills, & an assortment of ancillary charges. To the hospital I wrote a letter stating when my insurance coverage expired, explained the circumstances (stopped working to return to school full time) and enclosed copies of my bank accounts and previous income tax returns. They wrote off the entire balance. The key negotiating factor was that I proposed to pay $25 monthly payments until they notified me I wouldn't be responsible for the remainder. The attending physicians' billing service offered me a 50% discount, and they too agreed to my $25 monthly proposal. I paid more than $25 monthly, but I wanted to underpromise & overdeliver so that if one month I couldn't do as much, I could buy some time. Enclose a check as a show of good faith with your letter. Let's see the letter & I'm sure you'll get a lot more tips!
Personally, I wouldn't send any money until they agree to remove the listing. A paid collection is no better than an unpaid collection in the eyes of fico. If they agree to remove it, by all means pay it.
It is thank you, & so is my financial health. In fact, I 'm considering how much to donate to the hospital, since I had such a good experience with everyone from the ER, to the nurses, doctors & even the patient accounts office
I'm not talking about lying to the creditor, I believe the question was how to dispute it with the cra. Stating I don't recall may or may not be a lie. In that case, coldnorth, look on the listing on the credit report, find anything that is wrong, and dispute it as incorrect: incorrect info, please delete. Rina, if it gets paid, what good will it do credit wise, if it isn't deleted from the report? Nothing. Also, if insurance was involved that may be the case, but I didn't read any mention of insurance in this instance.
I think that I will try the "not aware of this" approach and hope it gets me a little time. To be honest though it all has me a little scared now, don't want the cops knocking at my door and sure don't need another lawsuit. These is another item on my report that has a small error. Credit card, charged off. The report shows a small balance, like 6 dollars but have heard from the CC company that the balance is 0. Should I dispute saying incorrect info please delete? Also, I have some accounts on my cr that are mine but I have never heard of the collection agency they are listed with. try as I may I have been unable to locate them. If I called the cra would they provide me with that info?
The cops will not come knocking at your door. Just find some little detail that is not accurate and dispute it on that basis.
I really don't think you need to be worried about disputing your credit reports. If they locked up everybody that lied to a cra, there would be half this country locked up. If an item is incorrect, definitely dispute it. I wouldn't ask the cra to give you info on who they are. Doesn't your report give the name, address and possibly a phone #? IF not, then if they haven't contacted you, again I would dispute it as either not mine, or I have never done business with these people and I have no idea who they are - please delete.
That never happened precisely because I was upfront with them from the beginning. Coldnorth, creditwise, it may help you to dispute as "not mine", but I'd rather have dings on my report & a clean conscience. But they will probably negotiate for a deletion like LKH said. Whatever they propose, get it in writing & with a signature.
No address, no phone number, just an account number, and a name and I think that it is abbreviated. In fact, every intry on my report is like that.
Yes, I would ask for something in writing on any deal I might make with them, which brings to mind another question. If I do make a deal with should I write up some kind of agreement for them to sign or is a letter from them agreeing to it enough?
Your writing the letter gives you the (psychological, at least) upper hand. I would say something to the effect of: "Such & such happened & I was unable to make payments. In return for deletion/favorable status reporting to the CRAs, I propose a payment of $XX.XX per month until this balance is paid in full. To that end I have enclosed the first payment. Please note that your cashing of this check constitutes your agreement to the terms above. If they are not acceptable to you, please advise, etc." Then provide a space for their signature.
I really do not trust the ca's and wonder if I should get it in writing first. How would something like you wrote hold up in court? For that matter, can you sue a ca for breech of contract or something if they fail to delete/change after you pay?
Anyone have any idea how I could get this info? I'd rather leave the original creditor alone as I think they will want to know my name so they can tell me "which ca" it went to. I have checked phone books, a few online sources, etc but like I said the name appears to be abbreviated.
