This is showing up on my husbands Equifax report, I tried to dispute it but it's still on there, so apparently it's verified. Medical Billing Association Date opened: 5/2008 Date reported: 9/2010 Balance: $0 So I have my husband call this morning and try to find out what this is... Medical Billing Association says that they sold the debt ($98) to Transworld. They say that they can't remove it and that if my husband pays Transworld, Transworld will contact MBA and then MBA will get it removed. However, there is no mention of any accounts with Transworld on any of his credit reports and he has never been contacted by them. Think I should see if they will take it back from Transworld? Seems odd to go seek out a CA that isn't reporting and try to pay them... With my luck they will then decide they want to report. Or should I just let it be and don't do anything since it's reporting $0 balance? I'd like it gone, but they said they would delete if we pay Transworld.
Here's a secret, no one can say that, if someone else does this, we'll do that... Chances are if you pay TransWorld, since it's been SOLD, they will not contact the OC, because the OC has no interest in whether or not a sold account is paid. Therefore the OC is using false and misleading statements to try to collect. I question whether MBA is actually an OC, if they are a third-party biller for a medical office, they actually wouldn't be the OC, but that may or may not make them a debt collector, because even if they are collecting the debt of another, if the debt wasn't in default at the time that MBA received it, they wouldn't be a CA; even if they aren't the OC itself.
I think that they are a 3rd party billing for a hospital... Not sure what service was offered. My husbands ex wife took his son to a doctor I'm assuming and never gave him the bill. Do you think I should call them and tell them that they can no longer report because they are not the collector? They made it sound like if I paid Transworld and sent them a receipt they would remove it. I thought that seemed VERY fishy!
So the saga continues with these people... I called Medical Billing Association and they were very nice (because they just do the billing for the hospital) and she told me to call Transworld and gave me their phone number. She said once we pay Transworld that Transworld will send them a letter/info saying it's paid and MBA will delete it in full. I told her that Transworld wasn't reporting, and she said that no they do not report, that all of the reporting is done through Medical Billing Association. I asked if I could pay them instead and she said no since it had already been assigned. Hmmm okay. I then called Transworld and the woman was rude but I did manage to get an account number from her and she told me that I would have to call NCO because they are the ones collecting on it and gave me their phone number. I then called NCO and the girl wouldn't discuss specifics with me because it's not my debt, but she did tell me the account number (a completely different account number than the woman from Transworld gave me) and told me to have my husband call. Still seems odd to me. The date this account was opened was 5/2008, since that was 5 years ago, I have another 2 years to wait for this to fall off right? I guess I have to have my husband call NCO and see what they say. It seems weird that MBA would be reporting on their behalf.
Create the dispute paper trail. Since Equifax "verified", I would do the following: 1) Send what is referred to as a 623 Original Creditor letter to the Medical Billing Association. FACTA allows you to request an investigation from an original creditor. - Although they "sold" the debt, the letter requests them to "reinvestigate" the accuracy of what they are reporting, and they have 30 days to respond. - This will document when the debt was sold to Transworld, and get them to substantitate the dates they are reporting. If they don't respond, this is a FCRA violation that could possibly be used to negotiate for removal. Note: FACTA (FCRA amendments) allows the Original Creditor option only after an unsuccessful credit reporting agency dispute.
Thanks! I will definitely look into that. I have a couple more days to wait to see if Equifax deletes or not, but I use a monitoring service and keep checking that and it's still there, so I have a feeling they won't delete. If they don't then I will try this route, thanks for the tip!
Unfortunately, however, the 623(a) provisions are not actionable, only the disputes which are through the CRA 623(b) provisions are actionable. Non-actionable violations don't provide leverage because they aren't worth the stamp, paper, and ink that they were created from. The actionable CRA disputes (as long as they are specific) are worth $100-$1,000; see the difference in leverage? Also, you can ALWAYS dispute with the Data Furnisher (not OC - OC doesn't apply to the FCRA because FCRA concerns only with who is furnishing the credit report information.)
This sounds like it's getting complicated! I'm hoping that it just gets deleted. It just seems weird that everyone keeps telling me to call someone else. I wish the OC could just pull back!
623(a) can't be used when suing? Do the creditors and CA's know this? I've chased more than one with a You owe me a 1,000 because of 623(a)(1)(B). In the end I was happy with the delete...but I couldn't of followed through if litigation was necessary?
Going the dispute route yourself can be confusing, as there are many gray areas in both the FCRA and FDCPA, including any applicable state statutes. I've been there, but after a lot of research and advice from an attorney, I was able to get four stubborn items removed. When in doubt, do an initial consultation with a licensed attorney who specializes in FDCPA/FCRA cases. I was trying to qualify for a business loan, and it helped clarify a lot of my rights.
mindcrime, look at the civil liability provisions... (Except as under 621(c)(1)(B), sections 616&617 do not apply) It's one of the arguements that was made by the state's attorney in my case against the DOE, despite the fact that a first grader could understand that the counts were FOLLOWING A CRA dispute, not a dispute with the DF.
That's what happens when its been a decade since I last read the FCRA over and over again Well, I'm glad the OC I was dealing with hadn't read it at all, LOL. Thanks for pointing it out, I'll be sure to keep it in mind.
Now, it does take the wind out of any "the CRA didn't tell us the true nature of the dispute" arguments, but it doesn't do anything on its own face...
Update on this... Since only the OC was reporting (the CA isn't), and they OC told me to pay CA that they would delete... So I sent them a modified PFD letter saying that if paid and sent them a copy of my receipt that they would delete... I just got it back signed yesterday so now I just need to pay the CA and hopefully the CA won't decide to report!
Nope it's with a CA.... The OC wont let me pay them directly. They are the only ones reporting so they say as soon as I send them a copy of the payment they will delete. I think they are legit, they are really nice (it's a billing dept for a hospital)
