Hi, I'm back after a long time... I have a medical bill on my cr that I disputed in 2004. I made several calls attempting to verify that it was my account. At the time, I was calling some other medical care providers asking to have bills forgiven because my husband had died. This oc probably would have forgiven the debt because of my circumstances, but they did not even recognize the type of account number I had. After speaking to many employees, one of them figured out that the account number was strange because it was so old. They have no records that old. I called the ca, which I normally would not do. They claim it is my account. All this happened in 2004. I was reading here the other day trying to help someone, and decided to pull my EQ. I was all excited to find that I am really close to having good credit, at least for the moment, with EQ. So, I disputed this item again. Now I am wondering if I did the wrong thing. Here is the item from my cr: Date Reported: 2004 Date Assigned: 2001 Creditor Classification: Creditor Name: zzzzzzzz Accounts Number: zzzzzzz Account Owner: Individual Account. Original Amount Owned: less than $300 Date of 1 st Delinquency: 2000 Balance Date: 2004 Balance Owned: less than $300 Last Payment Date: n/a Status Date: 004 Status: X - Checked Comments: Consumer disputes - reinvestigation in progress I see that when I disputed it before they change the date reported and balance date to that date. Does this affect anything? Can I use the fact that the oc has no records to my benefit? Any advice would be appreciated! Terri
Is the CA the only party reporting? Is there no credit report entry from the OC? Did the CA send you anything in writing? If this was assigned in 2001, based on your state law, has the SOL run out?
It is only reported by the ca. If they sent me anything, it must have been years ago and I have no record of it. I think the account is from 1997. I don't know what the sol it. I actually looked at that earlier, (I've been reading for hours) and couldn't figure out the sol for medical bills... I live in Ohio, and I think the sol here is not friendly to consumers.
If the account is from 1997, it should be off your reports already. It stays on based on the date of first delinquency, not the date assigned. Have you asked the CRA what the date of first delinquency is, and what date it is supposed to come off? This may not even be the account you think it is, and may not even be your account.
It says date of first delinquency is 2000. I don't know if it is my account. They just tell me it is. I didn't think to ask about the dates or the date it is scheduled to be removed. What would you advise as my next step ? Should I call the cra and ask about the date it would be removed? Should I send a letter to the cra, or to the ca? I am afraid I messed up by jumping in and doing this! And, I know better....I fixed my husband's credit so we could get our house... Thanks for the help!!
It might not be your account, in which case it should be removed. It might not have the correct delinquency date, in which case it might be still on your reports when it should be removed. It could be a medical account that should have gone to insurance, that was from an in-network provider, and that is now contractually uncollectable from the patient. In that case it is not owed and should be removed. It might not be the account you think it is, or from the time you think it is. In this case, it might have other billing errors, that since you have never seen the bill, you have never had the opportunity to dispute. Maybe your 3 year old son had a pap smear. If the account number is "strange" according to the OC, it may not be traceable to an OC account. It may not be possible to determine whose account it is, what it was for, or whether it was paid or not. It might not even be from the OC they claim. If you dispute, and the CA cannot obtain information from the OC to validate the debt, they must remove. Medical billing is highly error-prone. Insurance is often billed with no notice to the patient, and you may not even know all of the providers submitting bills, especially if some of them are paid with no co-pay due. Providers sometimes bill for amounts not allowed under their insurance contracts, billing the patient when they should have made an adjustment. Billing may also be mis-coded, patient accounts may be mixed up, and payments may be applied to the wrong account, or made to the wrong provider by a common billing office. These errors might have occurred with your payments, or with your insurance company's payments. If it is past SOL based on what you know, you have nothing to lose if you push until it is resolved.
Should I send a letter to the ca asking for validation? Or should I just wait and see if it is removed from the online dispute? thanks
Has the CA sent you anything in writing attempting to collect on this bill? Who have you disputed with, and how? The OC, the CRA, the CA? By phone, or in writing? What replies did you receive?
They mailed you nothing, you mailed them nothing, it might as well not have happened. Under FDCPA, after first contact (your call to them), they should have mailed you a first letter notifying you of your right to dispute. Violation one. Have you disputed, whether on-line, or in writing, with the CRA?
I have disputed online with the cra. Much better news than my other thread. I am in tears over it. Thanks for your help with both
Presumably you disputed with the CRA, and they verified with the CA, leaving the CR TL unchanged. Request validation from the CA. Indicate that you dispute the debt. Request the name of the original creditor, the original amount, the date of the original bill, a copy of the original bill, the date of last payment, and an accounting for the amount they are collecting showing all payments or fees. They should forward validation information obtained from the OC, assuming the OC can even find it. Otherwise they should remove their TL. Send it CRRR. Two weeks after your green card shows they received it, dispute the TL thru the CRA, again in writing, CRRR. If they verify to the CRA, and they don't send you information to validate the debt, they have violated FDCPA, which you may need to use as leverage to force removal. If they send you something that looks like they created it instead of obtaining it from the OC, perhaps if there is no more information than what you already have, and no copy of a bill, check with the OC to see if they actually sent any validation in response to your request.
