Well well, it feels so good to have made some headway and achieve some results... Those of you who have been there surely know the feeling...Here's what occured...I had some outstanding bills from NES physicians billing services for emergency room visits, these were w/in SOL also. They were now in NCOs' hands and were being reported as derogatory on all the CRAs', some were even listed twice. Well last week I called NES and told them that my wife was a full time hospital employee and as a result I shouldn't be billed as this was an employee benefit. I also mentioned that these should have been taken care of by workers comp as I was injured at work. She said that she would instruct NCO to remove listings. One week later I check my updated reports on Truecredit and lo and behold all tradelines were removed... I just feels so good to have made some progress that I wanted to share my good news with you all. A few more to go and I'm all clean..... :yahoo:
Awesome! Did that change your credit score any? I was told that medical items do not affect your score?
I'm not sure if it changed them...it hasn't hurt them for sure...I have some other stuff to remove before I can see any significant upward movement....I'll keep you all posted though...I can't imagine how good it will feel to have them all clean and scores climbing...Wow
Here's the latest: I speak with the original creditor AKA, NES Physicians Billing...They agree on zero balance and that I never was responsible for any debt, they contact NCO, who then pull all their listings off credit reports....YEAH!!!!! Now there is only one reporting on TU, Healthcare Regional Center, so I call them and figure I'll give it a shot...After some brief pleasantries and my explanation that OC withdrew debt and I don't really owe it...this woman says "just pay it it's a debt" I state again "but I don't owe it" she turns into the nastiest vile collection bitch, stating "it's only $205 dollars" just pay us blah blah blah. So today I sent my first debt validation to them and also sent TU a dispute. I hope that I do catch them in a violation because I think that I just might want more than just a deletion...
For those that might be folowing this thread, I have opted out, removed old addresses, read Whychats' Hippa process till my eyes bled. After this initial contact with CA I will have no more, I will then send CRA this letter.... Dear CRA, My name is xxxxx xxxxxx , my SS # is xxx xx xxxx. I am sending this dispute certified mail # xxxx to make sure you receive it. I have no knowledge or records of account # xxxxx on my report # xxxxx. Please advise me as to the name and address of the medical provider, the date and type of service,and to whom the service was provided. If you can obtain this information, I also would need the name of the person providing this data, and the manner in which it was provided in order that I may pursue additional legal remedies. Very truly yours, xxxxxx Make sure you HAND ADDRESS the envelope, use personalized stationery and purple or teal font, ( preferably italic). DO NOT send it RR -WAIT FOR THE FULL RESPONSE FROM THE CRA BEFORE CONTINUING WITH THE HIPAA LETTER PROCESS Kind of exciting, the whole process I must say. I'll keep updating.
Essentially you are disputing this as "not-mine", and they will probably only "verify" with the CA, other than confirming SSN matches.
I guess the CRA could code it code it to mean "not-mine', I do know that the original creditor has a zero balance and as a result ..no debt exists....There shouldn't be any possible way to validate the debt. Now if the CA reports this as a valid debt I think that I have them on a violation. Especially if they respond to the CRA within that thirty day window....Does it sound like I'm on the right track here...? Thank for your reply by the way...
"After some brief pleasantries and my explanation that OC withdrew debt and I don't really owe it...this woman says "just pay it it's a debt" I state again "but I don't owe it" she turns into the nastiest vile collection bitch, stating "it's only $205 dollars" just pay us blah blah blah. " You have already caught them. You disputed this with her, verbally during your call, and she could have simply checked with the OC to confirm the withdrawal of the account. Instead, she is demanding payment of a debt you have already confirmed with the OC you don't owe. She, and NCO, could choose to conduct themselves in a manner that avoids collection of debts not owed, yet they have chosen not to to their own benefit. If you don't owe it, it is NOT a debt. By continuing to press for collection in an abusive manner, she is showing that she is quite willing to use abuse and deception to get money that is not due her, even on an account that she could have confirmed has already been withdrawn by the OC. The purpose of her abuse was to imply or threaten that she would continue to harass you or damage your credit if you didn't pay, even though you did not owe it, so you'd better pay since it is "only" $205. Get a letter from the OC confirming that the account is withdrawn, file a complaint with your state AG, and also notify the OC of this in writing. Collection of medical debt routinely involves determining whether the amounts are correct, insurance has been billed, insurance or patient payments have been accounted for, etc, particularly when emergency room services are involved where insurance and billing information may have been collected under less than ideal circumstances. CAs who handle assigned medical debt know this. If they are assigning debts to this agency, that are being handled in this manner, they may find their CA's actions damage their business interests, including their relationships with their doctors or the hospitals they serve, or could leave them liable for their CA's actions. It is not right to attempt to collect debts that are not owed, and even though the FDCPA causes of action by consumers may require disputes, validation requests, etc, she already crossed the FDCPA line with abusive conduct. In trying to collect debt not owed, she entered the area the regulatory agencies can police for unfair and deceptive business practices under state and federal law. It is unlikely that she woke up this morning and just decided to collect an unowed debt from you alone. More likely, it is her standard procedure, and maybe even part of her training, whether formally by NCO, or informally by learning from other debt collectors "what works". Collection of alleged debts from people who did not owe them is what got CAMCO shut down. You don't have to limit your actions to counter a wrong to just one venue, sending letters. There are multiple parties involved who have an interest in ensuring that CAs comply with the law.
Thanks for the info, this only enhances my desire to obtain RESTITUTION AND RETRIBUTION....I'll update as times goes by....
You may find this information of value: http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/personalfinance/12/18zombiedebt.html http://www.budhibbs.com/debtcollectorpages/nco_financial_systems_cmts.htm and this settlement with FTC for "re-aging" collection accounts reported to the CRAs: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/05/ncogroup.htm http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/9923012/040513ncocmp9923012.pdf http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/9923012/040513ncoco9923012.pdf and this recent settlement with the Pennsylvania AG, over various abusive collection practices: http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/press.aspx?id=881 In particular, note the following from their agreement with the PA AG: "Under the terms of the Assurance, NCO Financial denies the Commonwealth's allegations and agrees to: - Adopt and implement policies and procedures reasonably necessary to ensure that its representatives are properly trained and are otherwise performing their duties in compliance with all applicable laws. - Adhere to a policy of disciplining, up to and including the termination of, representatives that have not complied with the requirements of the Assurance and all applicable laws. - Sufficiently monitor independent contractors and when it learns that any independent contractor is acting in violation of the requirements of the Assurance, immediately take action to enforce its contractual rights, up to and including termination of any independent contractor. - Adopt and implement compliance monitoring policies and procedures, under which NCO Financial's supervisors and managers of call centers must spend a portion of their work time monitoring by any lawful means their representatives to ensure compliance with applicable laws and company policy." (underlining added) If you are dealing with similar practices to those prohibited by the above settlements, you should consider contacting your state AG, the PA AG, and the FTC.
Here's what occured, NES who is the OC contacted NCO and they promptly pulled the tradeline off all three reports. The only one now reporting is the CA who turned the debt over to NCO. I was surprised that NCO folded so fast. Although it seems a lot of people are having success with them lately. I've just disputed this tradeline with TU and DV the CA yesterday..CMRRC.. This should fall off 12/07, too long to wait and I'd rather fight...I'd sue their asses too and if sucessfull drinks are on me...
Ontrack, I also want to express my appreciation for your insight and contributions to my thread....Much good Karma to you....
If they are reporting, then they are responsible for reporting accurately. If the debt is not valid, as per the OC, it should be removed. Have you had the OC contact the CA to notify them that the debt was recalled?
Your correct they should be reporting correct info....I had some luck when OC contacted NCO they quickly pulled all tradelines from all 3 CRAs. I'm going to contact OC again and request that they now inform this CA that there is no debt owed and maybe a similar situation will occur. I'm hoping it will..I'll let you know what they say when I call... the OC was actually pleasant to deal with and got results right away with NCO deleting tradelines forthwith....
