Help, OCR is slow (may take 1 year to investigate), what can I do?

[gator00]

First of all, I owe much thanks to whychat and all others who've provided all the information I've used thus far to help my credit.

 

More than a year ago, I started with over 15 medical collection accounts on my credit report (many were from the same few creditors), and as my financial situation has improved, I've been following the whychat process to eliminate all but two creditors who refuse to cooperate. I removed many accounts simply by requesting validation from the CRAs, then I got 1 removed by requesting validation directly with DV letter to CA, and I've had 3 OC's who were wonderful about promptly removing all references on my credit report after they received my payment letter with insert A and money order. The final two have been rotten to deal with.

 

I recently sent my final payment to 1 of them a week ago (still waiting for response), and I filed a HIPAA complaint against the other more than a month ago- this is the one I'm requesting help with now. Here's the summary so far:

• Late 2007- Requested validation from Equifax
   
   
  
• 2/20/08- Sent payment letter with insert A and money order for full amount of $225 (note: I sent them the full $225, even though the Dr. bill was only for $150 and $75 was for collection recovery fees) (note 2: money order was cashed 3/12/08)
   
   
  
• 3/27/08- Sent dispute to equifax and follow-up letter to OC requesting removal of paid account from credit report
  (4/18/08 received verification from equifax)
   
   
  
• 5/08- Sent Debt Validation letter to CA associated with file
  (6/24/08 received letter stating account status was unpaid with photocopy of doctors bill enclosed)
   
   
  
• 6/5/08- Sent courtesy letter to OC informing them of intent to file HIPAA complaint
   
   
  
• 7/3/08- Filed HIPAA complaint containing summary of all actions taken with photocopies of all documents as well as CM RR proof of delivery for all items.
   
   
  
• 8/20/08- After calling OCR asking for status of complaint, I received a call where they told me my case had not been assigned to an investigator yet and that they don't know when it will be assigned but that there are some cases from October '07 that still have not been assigned (our wonderful federal government at work).
  

 

I have recovered financially over the last year, and I really want to buy a house while the market is low and before interest rates start rising again, so I can't afford to wait a year for the OCR to get off their butts and investigate this. The OC has received payment in full and they still have refused to respond to any of my correspondence- not only have they not removed the account from my credit report, they haven't even marked it as paid.

 

What can I do to fix this in a reasonable amount of time? I would like to contact the OC, CA, or CRA directly, but I'm concerned I will jeopardize the HIPAA process by doing so. Can I call the OC directly, or send copies of the money orders to the CA or CRA? Can I sue the OC? What can I do? I feel so helpless and angry that I paid them 6+ months ago, yet I still have received no response whatsoever from the OC.

Edited August 21, 2008 by gator00

[Why Chat]

First of all, I owe much thanks to whychat and all others who've provided all the information I've used thus far to help my credit.

 

More than a year ago, I started with over 15 medical collection accounts on my credit report (many were from the same few creditors), and as my financial situation has improved, I've been following the whychat process to eliminate all but two creditors who refuse to cooperate. I removed many accounts simply by requesting validation from the CRAs, then I got 1 removed by requesting validation directly with DV letter to CA, and I've had 3 OC's who were wonderful about promptly removing all references on my credit report after they received my payment letter with insert A and money order. The final two have been rotten to deal with.

 

I recently sent my final payment to 1 of them a week ago (still waiting for response), and I filed a HIPAA complaint against the other more than a month ago- this is the one I'm requesting help with now. Here's the summary so far:

• Late 2007- Requested validation from Equifax
   
   
  
• 2/20/08- Sent payment letter with insert A and money order for full amount of $225 (note: I sent them the full $225, even though the Dr. bill was only for $150 and $75 was for collection recovery fees) (note 2: money order was cashed 3/12/08)
   
   
  
• 3/27/08- Sent dispute to equifax and follow-up letter to OC requesting removal of paid account from credit report
  (4/18/08 received verification from equifax)
   
   
  
• 5/08- Sent Debt Validation letter to CA associated with file
  (6/24/08 received letter stating account status was unpaid with photocopy of doctors bill enclosed)
   
   
  
• 6/5/08- Sent courtesy letter to OC informing them of intent to file HIPAA complaint
   
   
  
• 7/3/08- Filed HIPAA complaint containing summary of all actions taken with photocopies of all documents as well as CM RR proof of delivery for all items.
   
   
  
• 8/20/08- After calling OCR asking for status of complaint, I received a call where they told me my case had not been assigned to an investigator yet and that they don't know when it will be assigned but that there are some cases from October '07 that still have not been assigned (our wonderful federal government at work).
  

 

I have recovered financially over the last year, and I really want to buy a house while the market is low and before interest rates start rising again, so I can't afford to wait a year for the OCR to get off their butts and investigate this. The OC has received payment in full and they still have refused to respond to any of my correspondence- not only have they not removed the account from my credit report, they haven't even marked it as paid.

 

What can I do to fix this in a reasonable amount of time? I would like to contact the OC, CA, or CRA directly, but I'm concerned I will jeopardize the HIPAA process by doing so. Can I call the OC directly, or send copies of the money orders to the CA or CRA? Can I sue the OC? What can I do? I feel so helpless and angry that I paid them 6+ months ago, yet I still have received no response whatsoever from the OC.

Have you received anything in writing from the OCR?? Do you have a case #?? Did you send a copy of your filed complaint to the OC with a note stating that your complaint has been received and is being processed for investigation case file # xxxxx??

 

The fact that it IS being processed for investigation is GOOD, many people who do NOT submit sufficient documentation with their complaint simply get an automated response that their complaint has been received, and not submitted for any further review or investigation.

 

The only other thing is that it is possible that there is NO current relationship between the OC and the reporting CA, I figure that is probable because your report was not changed to a "paid" collection.

 

I assume that you have sent the medical dispute letter to any CRA where this account is reporting RECENTLY??

http://whychat.5u.com/hipaadisp.html

 

If so, and the CA verified, have you sent the CA this?:

http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html

 

and followed up with this?

http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html#DISPUTE

Edited August 21, 2008 by Why Chat

[gator00]

Follow up to the situation (as of 10/16/08):

 

I sent the OC a letter informing them that I had filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights and included copies of all the paperwork I submitted and told them that I had received a transaction number.

 

As of my most recent credit reports from September, all references to this account have vanished from my credit reports. I never received a response from the OC, so I don't know how it got removed- it just vanished. I still have not received any further contact from the OCR, so I don't think that they've assigned an investigator to the case yet, but I will leave things as they are and as long as it doesn't show up on my credit reports in the future I will be satisfied.

 

Thanks for the help Whychat.