We just applied for a home loan and was shot down due to an almost 10 year old dentist bill that was just submitted to collection 6 months ago on my wife's credit report. After looking into this bill, it turns out that this was a bill for her father from when she was still living at home at the age of 16. Her father didnt pay it, and now they are looking for her to pay it. What are the laws reguarding minors and medical bills?? (or any debts for that matter) It is a $700 bill... Should i offer less if the law says she owes, or would that hurt her credit?
You have actual damages, denial for a mortgage. You have a debt that is 10 years old, well past the 7 years + 180 days that anything is allowed to be reported. Your wife was 16 at the time, so the debt belongs to her father. First send a validation request to the CA, in that request remind them that since it is over 7 years old, the fact that it is on your wife's credit report is a violation. I would bet that it will vanish quickly with that, if not you will win more than the $700 of the debt in the lawsuit that you will file. Simply, there is probably no way that they can even think of proving that it belongs to her since she was a minor at the time. Should be an easy one to clean up. Let us know how it goes. ChrisB
Thanks for the info!! Now, when we talk about the 7 year + 180 day limit... Are we talking about from the date of service at the doctor OR from the date it was first reported to the bureau??
The period runs from the date of delinquency. I'm not sure what that is for medical bills. Was there any insurance involved? Could it be that this was settled by insurance and somehow a CA got hold of it and thought they could extort money? What is the SOL?
Re: Re: Underage for Dentist bill? The item must be charged off (or considered charged off) within 180 days of the date of delinquancy (the first day that a payment was due and never paid current) Assuming that this money wasn't being paid at $15 a month for the past 10 years, that delinquancy date + 6 months (180 days) plus 7 years should still be well passed. This means first of all, that this debt (even if it can be prooven that your wife is responsible for it) is LEGALLY not allowed to be reported on your credtit report. You have two things here going for you in getting rid of it. 1: The debt is too old to still be reported. 2: Your wife was a minor when the debt was incurred; therefor, the debt belongs to her legal guardian (her father) Before digging into when it should fall off or anything else like that, probably a validation letter indicating in it that since it's a debt from 10 years ago they've violated the FCRA by reporting it to your wife's credit report. AFTER they provide validation, assuming they can proove that it possibly was paid within the past 10 years and so the delinquancy date is close enough to still be reported, then you get to go after the fact that your wife was a minor when the debt was incurred, which makes her legally not responsible for it.
Re: Re: Re: Underage for Dentist bi CONTINUED... If I take my son (2 1/2 years old) to the hospital and check him in, I sign a piece of paper stating that I am responsible for paying the charges from the hospital If your wife, at 16 years old, signed the form agreeing to pay the debt she is not bound to that contract. "Minors (e.g., usually those under eighteen) cannot, generally, enter into a binding contract without parental consent" taken from http://law.freeadvice.com If her father gave consent by signing some section of the paperwork, then he took responsibility for the debt. First validate, then if they have something from less than 7 years ago showing that it was current and being paid on go after your wife being a minor.
if the law says she owes tommy gun =============== She's not under the gun for this-tommy or otherwise.
1*an almost 10 year old dentist bill that was just submitted to collection 6 months ago on my wife's credit report. 2*After looking into this bill, it turns out that this was a bill for her father from when she was still living at home at the age of 16. 3* Her father didn't pay it, and now they are looking for her to pay it. 4*It is a $700 bill... Should I offer less 5*if the law says she owes, 6* would that hurt her credit? Tommy gun =================== 1*This is way way waaaayyyyy past sol tell them to pound sand. 2*Then it's not hers and she isn't obligated to pay it reason 2 She is off the hook. 3*That is all they can do. Tell them happy Window Shopping 4*May I suggest this figure? $0.oo. 5*The collector says she owes I just gave you 2 reasons why the law says she don't. Reason 3 is she was under age at DOS. 6*This has nothing to do with her or her credit so why should it hurt it.
