Medical Collection

[azbc]

I was going through a divorce and had some medical bills in 2011 that went to collections. It was from one hospital and instead of saying it as one account, they said it was 4 different accounts. Collection Agency placed these in my Credit report (all three) in February 2012. I disputed with all three CRAs by saying that this debt is not mine. Transunion responded by deleting it. Experian and Equifax answered by saying I have these 4 accounts and they have been in collection and not paid. I sent a letter to CA for a "pay to delete" without saying that the debt is mine. I got a sample letter on the internet. They did not answer. I paid LexingtonLaw and opened an account. They sent a letter to all three CRAs asking to confirm the debt. They have not responded. I called the CA and asked them to follow up on the pay to delete letter. They refused to do anything and asked for more money. Meanwhile LexingtonLaw sent a letter to them to validate the debt. They sent a letter to me that kind of validates the debt.

 

First of all, I am not very pleased with the service of LexingtonLaw as they are extremely hard to contact and talk to. What they have done, I could have done very easily if I had read the forums before.

 

Can you please help me?

 

Please let me know what route I should go about to fix this situation.

 

1. Is WhyChat's method (Hipaa) available to me?

2. What should I do next?

3. Should I send the payment to the collection agency? LexingtonLaw recommended that I do that...

 

Please help. I need to buy a house and they denied my loan....

 

Thanks

[Why Chat]

I was going through a divorce and had some medical bills in 2011 that went to collections. It was from one hospital and instead of saying it as one account, they said it was 4 different accounts. Collection Agency placed these in my Credit report (all three) in February 2012. I disputed with all three CRAs by saying that this debt is not mine. Transunion responded by deleting it. Experian and Equifax answered by saying I have these 4 accounts and they have been in collection and not paid. I sent a letter to CA for a "pay to delete" without saying that the debt is mine. I got a sample letter on the internet. They did not answer. I paid LexingtonLaw and opened an account. They sent a letter to all three CRAs asking to confirm the debt. They have not responded. I called the CA and asked them to follow up on the pay to delete letter. They refused to do anything and asked for more money. Meanwhile LexingtonLaw sent a letter to them to validate the debt. They sent a letter to me that kind of validates the debt.

 

First of all, I am not very pleased with the service of LexingtonLaw as they are extremely hard to contact and talk to. What they have done, I could have done very easily if I had read the forums before.

 

Can you please help me?

 

Please let me know what route I should go about to fix this situation.

 

1. Is WhyChat's method (Hipaa) available to me?

2. What should I do next?

3. Should I send the payment to the collection agency? LexingtonLaw recommended that I do that...

 

Please help. I need to buy a house and they denied my loan....

 

Thanks

Opt out

http://www.whychat.5u.com/OPTOUTINST.HTML

If you have moved since the date of medical service try to get your old address off your reports. Send each CRA a HANDWRITTEN letter requesting that xxxx address be deleted as it is not a valid address and you are concerned about ID theft/fraud. Include a copy of your drivers licens, a copy of your SS card and an ORIGINAL recent utility bill as proof of your identity and correct current address.

 

Send each CRA ( using a REAL report To order, visit annualcreditreport.com,or call 1-877-322-8228 ) this:

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

 

Cancel your membership with Lexington

 

DO NOT pay anyone anything.

 

Come back to THIS POST for additional assistance once you have the results of the above accomplished steps.

[azbc]

Thank you so much for replying Why Chat.

 

As per your reply, I will do the following:

 

1. Opt out.

 

Question: I have a question about who I should send the opt out letters to. Should I send opt out letter to the CA , original hospital, CRAs,?

 

Quote from website: "... any company that sends you statements in the mail: banks, credit card companies, department stores, insurance companies, " I am unsure if this includes CA, original hospital, CRAs?

 

2. I have not moved since the hospital bill so I will not be doing address change, right?

 

3. I will send the hipaa dispute letter to CRAs

 

I used annualcreditreport.com once to get my report about 2 months ago. So I will pay them this time and get all three reports, right?

 

4. Cancel Lexingtonlaw

 

Thanks a ton again for helping people from this menace..

[azbc]

One further question:

 

Should I send HIpaa dispute to Transunion? They removed the 4 listings when I sent them the first letter so I am thinking that I will not dispute anything with them at this point. Unless the CA puts it back into the report. Right?

 

Thanks!!!

[CreditDespair]

You don't have to send out any "opt out" letters. You just follow the directions on the website.

Edited May 17, 2012 by CreditDespair

[azbc]

You don't have to send out any "opt out" letters. You just follow the directions on the website.

 

 

Oh OK I see. I just opted out of all three CRAs for 5 years.

[Why Chat]

Thank you so much for replying Why Chat.

 

As per your reply, I will do the following:

 

1. Opt out.

 

Question: I have a question about who I should send the opt out letters to. Should I send opt out letter to the CA , original hospital, CRAs,?

 

Quote from website: "... any company that sends you statements in the mail: banks, credit card companies, department stores, insurance companies, " I am unsure if this includes CA, original hospital, CRAs?

 

2. I have not moved since the hospital bill so I will not be doing address change, right? Right

 

3. I will send the hipaa dispute letter to CRAs

 

I used annualcreditreport.com once to get my report about 2 months ago. So I will pay them this time and get all three reports, right?

 

4. Cancel Lexingtonlaw

 

Thanks a ton again for helping people from this menace..

You do not need to do the FULL opt out, that is only for those who have issues with ID theft/fraud or who have a VERY common name, the opt out from the CRAs is all you need.

 

You do not need new reports, use the ones you received 2 Months ago

 

You do not need to send the dispute letter to TU if there is nothing on that report to dispute.

[azbc]

Thanks a lot for answering!!!!

 

I cant find the three credit reports that I printed out two months ago. Do you know where I should order new ones from??

[azbc]

Never mind I found the reports. Letters are being sent today...Thanks

[azbc]

Hi Whychat, Please advise me what I should do next????

 

I got a letter from Equifax this Friday. It says:

 

"Credit File: May 31, 2012

Confirmation number: xxxxxx

 

Dear xxxxx,

 

Below are the results of your reinvestigation reuest and, as applicable, any revisions to your credit file. If you have additional questions regarding the reinvestigated items, please contact the source of that information directly. You may also contact Equifax regarding the specific information contained within this letter or report within the next 60 days by visiting us at www.investigate.equifax.com or by calling a Customer Representative at (888)237-1106 from 9:00am to 5pm Monday-Friday in your time zone.

 

Thank you for giving Equifax the opportunity to serve you.

 

The results of our Reinvestigation

Collection Agency Information (This section includes accounts that have been placed for collection with a collection agency.)

 

>>>We have researched the collection account. Account # 122xxx. The results are: We verified that this item belongs to you. If you have additional questions about this item please contact: The Thomas Agency, 561 Forest ave, Portland ME

 

The Thomas Agency Inc,: Collection reported 05/2012; Assigned 10/2011: Creditor Class: Medical Health Care......Additional Information: Consumer Disputes this account Information

 

---------------There are 3 more like this from the same Collection Agency and Hospital-------------

 

 

What should I do next whychat?

 

Thanks

[Why Chat]

Hi Whychat, Please advise me what I should do next????

 

I got a letter from Equifax this Friday. It says:

 

"Credit File: May 31, 2012

Confirmation number: xxxxxx

 

Dear xxxxx,

 

Below are the results of your reinvestigation reuest and, as applicable, any revisions to your credit file. If you have additional questions regarding the reinvestigated items, please contact the source of that information directly. You may also contact Equifax regarding the specific information contained within this letter or report within the next 60 days by visiting us at www.investigate.equifax.com or by calling a Customer Representative at (888)237-1106 from 9:00am to 5pm Monday-Friday in your time zone.

 

Thank you for giving Equifax the opportunity to serve you.

 

The results of our Reinvestigation

Collection Agency Information (This section includes accounts that have been placed for collection with a collection agency.)

 

>>>We have researched the collection account. Account # 122xxx. The results are: We verified that this item belongs to you. If you have additional questions about this item please contact: The Thomas Agency, 561 Forest ave, Portland ME

 

The Thomas Agency Inc,: Collection reported 05/2012; Assigned 10/2011: Creditor Class: Medical Health Care......Additional Information: Consumer Disputes this account Information

 

---------------There are 3 more like this from the same Collection Agency and Hospital-------------

 

 

What should I do next whychat?

 

Thanks

Wait until you receive a response from Ex, then send this to the reporting CA

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

 

And as soon as you have proof of their receipt, send this to the CRA(s)

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

[azbc]

I cannot rule out the fact that this letter may have sent because Lexington Law disputed these accounts as not mine about 1 month ago...

[Why Chat]

I cannot rule out the fact that this letter may have sent because Lexington Law disputed these accounts as not mine about 1 month ago...

UGH!!!

 

That changes things a lot.

 

Once you have used a CRO ( Credit Repair Organization) your file with the CRAs is flagged and it is almost impossible to get anything done until it clears out of the system, ( about 90 days)

 

You can TRY the medical DVs and the follow up disputes, but I wouldn't hold my breath!!

 

If they don't work, you will have to wait until the computer systems have cleared out your prior disputes, ( 90 days from the date of your LAST communication from the CRA)

[azbc]

Whychat,

 

That's a bummer....

 

Can you tell me what the best thing is to remove this collection? Should I wait 90 days and then restart the process? I will have moved by then. Also I believe that the CA has a working relationship with the hospital. Should I wait a few years to dispute (when another collection agency contacts me)? or after 4 years is up (It is already 1.5 years)?

 

Thanks for the help

[Why Chat]

Whychat,

 

That's a bummer....

 

Can you tell me what the best thing is to remove this collection? Should I wait 90 days and then restart the process? I will have moved by then. Also I believe that the CA has a working relationship with the hospital. Should I wait a few years to dispute (when another collection agency contacts me)? or after 4 years is up (It is already 1.5 years)?

 

Thanks for the help

What documentation or proof do you have that there is a current relationship?? Have you spoken to the hospital to confirm that the reporting CA was a direct assigned of the hospital?? If so, and you believe the amount is correct and you have the original bills or EOMBs from your insurance and can pay the hospital, then do so. If you can't afford the full amount, and you had NO insurance, you can go to the Health Care Billing Charts linked within insert "a" to get the usual and ordinary fee for your services.

http://www.whychat.5u.com/hipltr.html

Edited June 11, 2012 by Why Chat