Hi. I am new, but will try to spare everyone all the boring details. I have four medical collections that I would like to get removed. I am wanting to start Why Chat's HIPAA process, but think I may have already screwed up. Awhile back, I hired a credit repair specialist (I'm an idiot, I now know) and she sent what I'm sure were standard dispute letters to the credit bureau's. I received the reports and this is what I see:

Experian:
Without additional relevant information in support of this dispute, you will not receive notice again on this particular dispute.

Equifax:
Previously verified next to all of the medical collections.

Transunion:
Our records indicate that your creditor previously verified as accurate the items listed below. Therefore, under the FCRA, we consider this dispute frivolous and we will not reinvestigate the items unless you provide court papers or a recent, authentic letter from the creditor that explains what information should be updated.

The first question is, can I still use Why Chat's process? Do I still need to send the pre-HIPAA letters, or will they not even look at them?

The second question is, would is still be possible for me to pay the OC and use the latter part of the process, or have I done damage beyond repair?

Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated!!

You could still use the HIPAA process but I would recommend at least waiting 60-90 days to send the HIPAA dispute to the CRA http://whychat.5u.com/hipaadisp.html

Make sure you have opted out:

http://whychat.5u.com/OPTOUTINST.HTML
Delete any old address if you have moved within the last 8-10 years


Send any CRA that is reporting the medical Collection this:

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

I have never tried this myself but some recommend disputing right around the Holidays.
Please keep all your information in one post.

I should have mentioned, I opted out before the credit repair specialist screwed me and am in the process of deleting old addresses but had a question about that. I have seen that some people have been able to call the bureau's or do online disputes to get the old addresses removed. Is this recommended or is it best to send the address deletion requests CM?

It has been 69 days since the last round of dispute letters were sent out, do you think it's okay to start the pre-HIPPA process or should I stop being impatient?

Would it be alright to call the OC's and get my account numbers and amounts owed to them right now, or should I wait to get responses from the bureau's?

I'll be sure to keep everything in this post. Thanks so much for the quick reply!

Because your prior report disputes were from a CRO ( Credit Repair Organization) you may have problems, even if you wait until the Holidays. Your account has probably been "flagged" as being with a CRO.

How old are these accounts??

Don't contact the OC if you didn't have insurance, as that will make things more difficult to delete later.
If you DID have insurance, get your EOMB's ( explanation of medical benefits) from them.

The simplest way to get addresses deleted is to send a nice HAND WRITTEN letter on yellow legal pad paper saying that you have addresses that are not yours on your reports and are concerned about identity theft, ( list the old addresses-- don't try to get them ALL off, just the ones that are on your "baddies" accounts) include a COPY of your drivers license and social security card and a recent ORIGINAL utility bill that has your name and current address. Send it certified mail BUT NOT RR, hand address the envelope and stick your own postage on, as well as the certified mail sticker. If it LOOKS like it is from a CONSUMER it will get the attention you need.

If you have GOOD closed accounts, make sure that they are notified of your correct current address.

Three of the accounts are from 2005 and one is from 2004.

I didn't have insurance, so I won't contact the OC's. One question though, since I probably won't be able to get the account information from the CRA's how do I go about getting it so I can pay the OC's?

I will follow your instructions to the letter and send the address removal requests to the CRA's tomorrow.

What are my options now?

Once you have removed the old addresses the initial dispute letter to the CRA's will most likely get you a deletion.
There is NO WAY that the OC's have any current data on these old accounts, save your $$ and donate them to charity once they are deleted from your reports. If you had disputed them yourself instead of having a CRO do it they would have been off by now.

Send the initial dispute letter once your address dispute has worked to get the old addresses off your reports. That will likely be another few weeks so enough time will have gone by.
http://whychat.5u.com/hipaadisp.html
Use the SAME method of hand writing on legal pad paper, hand address the envelope, use a combo of postage stamps, make sure you send it certified, but NOT with a RR keep copies of everything you receive and send.

Should it be a formal demand to erase the old addresses (baddies), or more of an informal request?

So I looked at my credit report today, and I noticed there is a new collection from 05/01/2009. What the hell? I've been on the straight and narrow now for over 2 years, trying real hard to get some bad items removed, and now this! I now pay, and have paid ALL my bills on time for over 2 years and I have no idea where this came from? What do I do? Can I contact the CA to see where this account came from? How do I go about doing this correctly?

I am in the middle of the HIPAA process right now and I don't want to do anything to screw that up. I've already opted out and am disputing addresses with EX and EQ and have already sent the pre-HIPAA letter to TU because they didn't have any bad addresses.

Is there anything I can do about the new collection? Please help, I don't know what to do?

Thanks in advance.

Don't call the CA-
I suspect the "new" account may really be one that you disputed with the Pre-HIPAA, it could not be validated so it has already been transferred/sold to another CA.
Is the new one close to the same amount as the one of the older one you are in the process of disputing?

Wait until you get the full results back from the Pre-HIPAA dispute and then we can take it from there.
You may have to start Why Chat's HIPAA process with this one immediately after you get the full results back from the first group.
Have you recently applied for a Mortgage?

The new one is only a $1 more than one of the medical collections I've disputed, but I thought opting out was supposed to prevent that? I have not applied a for mortgage recently, or any kind of credit.

I was looking through my EOB's and I think I found the culprit. I went to the ER in January and I paid the full amount to the Hospital, but the ER has it's own billing department separate from the hospitals billing guys. They are notorious for this kind of thing. My wife is in the medical field and she has heard of the this kind of thing happening to her patients with this particular hospital. I was going to call them and make sure it is them, but what my are options if it is? Can I make them pull it from collections? I'm more than willing to pay them, I mean, I've never even gotten a bill from them! Can I call them, or is that a bad idea?

Thoughts?

It would be unwise to add another dispute while you are waiting for the first one to be resolved, ( this is most likely the SAME account sold off to another CA as soon as you disputed, or another that got in before your opt out took effect.)

Send the reporting CA this;( if it is reporting on more than one report, send a letter for EACH CRA in the same envelope)
http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html

As soon as you have a response from TU on the initial dispute, send them another dispute for THIS account and send the other CRA's your disputes on ALL medical accounts ASAP.

So I shouldn't even bother calling the hospital to see if the bill is with them? It's the exact amount on my EOB, it's just that they never sent me a bill. In fact, they sent me to collections only 2 1/2 months after the bill was supposedly past due. I figured I could call them and figure out where the heck they've been sending the bills, and if it was to the wrong address, they would just accept the payment and remove from CA, but I guess that's wishful thinking...

I just received the address/alias deletion from EQ today. However, the new account isn't listed on it, just the four old ones that I already knew of. Let me back up for a second... the only way I knew about this account is because I signed up for a credit monitoring service and I got an alert that my credit score had changed. So, should I order a new report directly from EQ and then dispute all 5 at once with the normal pre-HIPAA letter? Do I need to wait for reponse from TU, or is this step independent?

A side question about the pre-HIPAA letter, when I sent to TU, I just listed the four accounts in one hand written letter. Is that the right, or was I supposed to write separate letters?

I'll wait to get the addresses deleted from EX, and then send them the pre-HIPAA letter as well? Again, do I need to wait on TU for this step?

In the meantime, send the reporting CA's (including the new one) this http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcaval.html with the modified sentence?

Thank you so much for all of your help, and advice... I really appreciate it!

Called the hostpital today and found that I have a zero balance with them, so you are correct, this must have gotten sold to a new CA...

So let me make sure I understand exactly what I need to do right now, in this order...

1. Order new credit reports from EQ and EX so I have the account number for this new collection account.
2. Send both of them a handwritten pre-HIPAA letter with all 5 medical accounts listed.
3. Send the CA's the dispute here http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcaval.html with modified sentence from previous post. I send this CMRR, right?
4. Don't do anything with TU until I receive their full response, then send dispute for new collection.

One last question, 3 of the medical collections are with the same CA... do I send them one letter with all accounts listed, or separate letters?

Told my wife that the collection wasn't with the hostpital and she didn't beleive me because she can see on the EOB that the bill wansn't paid (I'm in IT, so all this medical stuff is foreign to me). She called the hospital herself and found out that it IS this hospital that sent me to collections. They've been sending the bills to an address in another city... what the hell? Anyhow, I haven't been able to get their billing guys on the phone yet, but as soon as I do, hopefully they will be willing to send me all of my account information so I can pay them using HIPAA insert "a". Is this the correct way to go about this now that I'm certain they are the ones that sent this new account to collections?

Just got off the phone with the hostpital and they said they would pull it from collections if I paid them over the phone. I didn't beleive them and told them to send me something in writiing saying that it would be removed from collections if I pay it. I'll wait to get that in the mail. If it clearly states that they will remove from collection if I pay the bill, is it safe to do so?

I will post the letter I receive from the OC when I recieve it.

I received a response to the pre-HIPAA letter I sent to TU and below is their response:

Re: Verification documents not available.

We store information in our records as it is supplied to us by your creditors. When information is disputed, we are required to investigate and record the current status of the information. We do not provide dispute verification responses received from creditors. If you need documentation or written verification concerning your accounts, then please contact your creditors directly.

To me, this sounds like they didn't really do anything and just deal with the CA directly. Is this sufficient for proving a relationship between the TU and the CA's? Can I proceed with sending the medical DV to the CA's?

Can I proceed with sending http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcaval.html to the reporting CA's? I send this CMRR right? Then, as soon as I receive the green card, dispute with the CRA's again?

If someone could confirm that I'm on the right track, I would appreciate it.

Yes, you are on the right track, you need to send the medical DV to the reporting CA.

The "relationship" you need to document is between the reporting CA and the OC, not the reporting CA and the CRA, we already KNOW their relationship.

Your wife is understandably confused about the EOB proving that you owe the $$, and you may very well owe it, however, without establishing a documented relationship between the reporting CA and the OC, any payment to the OC will have NO effect on the entry on your reports.

You may wish to wait until you have the results of your dispute to Eq and Ex before sending the medical DV, as if they also "verify" without your having obtained any documentation from the reporting CA, then you will need to send the SAME medical DV to the CA for each of them. If so, you can put all 3 medical DV's in one CMRR envelope, that way each CRA will have their OWN copy of their OWN letter referencing THAT CRA for the follow up letter.

Thank you WhyChat!

I haven't even sent the pre-HIPAA letters to EX or EQ yet, but I'm going to get them out tomorrow. I guess I'll wait to get their reponses before I send the medical DV's to the CA's so I'm not doing double work.

I will follow your instructions as everything seems to work better that way, but if you have time, could you explain something to me...

If I pay the OC for this new bill that I definately owe and they agree to remove the collection from my reports (in writing of course), why wouldn't that work? If I pay them, then the account shouldn't have gone to collections anyway and the CA wouldn't be able to verify, right? Like I said, I'm going to follow your instuctions, I'm just not clear on why this wouldn't work and would like to be more educated about the process.

Thanks!

An OC has NO control over what the CA is reporting, all they can do is notify the CA that the account has been paid, in which case the CA would likely report it as a paid collection.

The OC does not and can not report directly to any CRA it would be a violation of the medical privacy rules.

Thank you again WhyChat. I really appreciate your patience.

I've decided to disregard what the OC sends me in writing and will dispute it along with the other accounts. I ordered new credit reports so I have the account number of the new collection. So this is what I'm going to do...

1. Send pre-HIPAA letter to EX with the 5 medical accounts listed
2. Send pre-HIPAA letter to EQ with 4 accounts listed (they are not reporting the new one)
3. Draft and send another pre-HIPAA letter to TU with just the one new medical account - Is this really necessary? Can I just send the medical DV to this CA?

Being that my account has been flagged as a CRO, I'm pretty sure EX and EQ are just going to blindly verify like TU did... thoughts?

If this is the case, can I just go ahead and send the medical DV's to the CA's now (one letter for each CRA in the same envelope), or should I just wait until I get the responses from EQ and EX, then send them all at once?

If you have sent the initial medical dispute letter out to the CRA's, AND FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS, you will possibly get better results, wait for the response.

The "font" and no RR is designed to PREVENT the dispute being identified as being from a CRO.

I don't think I could have followed the directions any better than I did... I handwrote the letter on yellow legal paper, didn't send it RR, and used a combination of stamps.

I already received the response from TU regarding the first pre-HIPAA letter... it said that they don't provide verification documents.

So now I'll send another pre-HIPAA letter for just the one new medical account being reported to TU. I will also send the first round of pre-HIPPA letters to EQ and EX. Wait for all the responses to come back and then send the medical DV's to all the CA's, one for each CRA so they have their own letter when I have to follow up later.

I guess I don't understand why I'm sending pre-HIPAA letters when they are just going to tell me that they don't provide verification documents, but I'll do it anyway.

Hi R2-D2,

I'm in the middle of disputing some medical collections and it seems that the response you got from TU is typical of them (based on what I've read on this board). They seem to send out a knee-jerk letter then within a few days they send another letter with their actual results. It seems that many people have had this experience with them, so I would expect, in your case, that you might get another letter from them very soon.
In my case, the "verification documents not available" letter came the very same day as the "deletion" letter.

Good luck!

Idon't wanna is correct, this is not the FULL results, This is TU-goofy way of acknowledging your dispute.

Thanks guys, I was under the impression that the reponse I got WAS the full reponse from TU. I'll wait until I get another letter.

Well, you guys were right again! Just received the FULL response from TU and they deleted 3 of the 4 TL's!!!

It's weird though... I submitted 4 disputes, 3 are with one CA, and 1 with a different CA. They responded with:

Account 1 with CA(A) - Deleted
Account 2 with CA(A) - New information below
Account 3 with CA(A) - They didn't even send a response to this, but it's no longer on my report
Account 4 with CA(B ) - Deleted

As you can see they deleted 2 of the 3 TL's that were with the same CA. Is this normal? Unfortunately, the one they were able to verify is the most expensive one.

That is great news, you still have to wait for the other two to respond-

They didn't even type verified by it, it literallly says 'New Information Below". Then, when I look at that entry on my report, it says dispute resolved, customer disagrees.

What happens if I don't get anything from the CA or OC? Do I still proceed with Medical DV's to all of them that still exist after I get the results from EQ and EX?

But if you receive something from the CA or OC than update this post, as this advise may no longer be VALID.

I did receive a letter from the OC today. It lists all of the account info and shows a balance of $0 with the OC. However, it shows a balance of $85.00 transferred to a Collection Agency. It doens't list any additional information. Just that the balance has been transferred? What should I do now?

Let me give you a little more context. This is the Hospital that sent me into collections before they ever sent me a bill. I called them to figure out what happened and they had the wrong address on file. They said I could pay over the phone and they would remove from collections. I told them to send me that in writing and they said they would. So I'm not sure if this is from them regarding that request or if this came because of the dispute. It doesn't list the actual CA name, it just says Collection Agency. I don't think this establishes a relationship between the OC and the CA since their name isn't even listed on this letter. After I receive the responses from the other CRA's, do I still proceed with Medical DV's or is there something else I should do now?

OK, NOW you pay the OC the $85. with the HIPAA letter insert "a" follow ALL the directions.

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

In this case it doesn't matter that you have had no established relationship between the OC and the CA, since the ONLY communication you have had is with the CA who wrote you, you need to name THEM in the HIPAA letter to make sure it is not reported as a "paid" collection.

WhyChat,

I haven't had any communication with the CA. This letter that I have came from the hospitals billing department.

You said, "since the ONLY communication you have had is with the CA who wrote you, you need to name THEM in the HIPAA letter to make sure it is not reported as a "paid" collection."

I'm not sure I understand this statement... Since I haven't communicated with the CA at all, can I still pay the OC right now using HIPAA insert "a"?

I can post the whole letter without the personal info if that would help.

Your response from the OC was in response to your dispute to the CRA, and/or the medical DV to the CA ( if you sent it) so it is obvious that their comment "They said I could pay over the phone and they would remove from collections." refers to the same CA.

I only disputed this account with the CRA's a few days ago. No medical DV's yet. Is it possible that they are already sending me stuff? I really think they sent me this letter because I asked them to send me something in writing. But anyway, for the HIPAA letter, I just insert the name of the CA as I see it on my CR's, right?

Where do I send the HIPAA letter? Do I use their local address, or should I use the address that I see on this letter I was sent? It is a P.O. Box in another state?

Sorry, I must be having a "senior moment" I thought this account was not yet reporting!!

Hold off on the HIPAA letter with payment to the OC until you get a response from the CRA and/or the CA.

How old is this account again??

This is the brand new account that was just inserted onto my reports a couple of weeks ago. The date of service was 01/10/09. This is the hospital that sent me into collection before sending me a bill. I contacted them to figure out what happened and they had been sending the bills to an unknown address. They said I could pay over the phone and they would remove from collections, so I told them to send me something to that effect in writing and they sent me this 'bill' looking thing that says I have a $0 balance with them, and that the amount has been transferred to 'Collection Agency' - they didn't even list the CA's name.

Though I would love to send the HIPAA letter and pay these scumsuckers so I can get this off my reports (this one new collection tanked my scores by almost 90 points)... I'll hold off until I receive responses from the CRA's. Thanks WhyChat!

Quick question...

I've seen quite a few people have success with getting addresses removed from Experian by calling them. I have sent pre-HIPAA disputes to all three bureau's and am waiting for responses.

Would it be a bad idea to call Experian to get addresses deleted while the pre-HIPAA dispute is in progress?

I wouldn't do it.
My understanding is that they can add 15 days to the time they have to respond to your dispute if you add any information - and it's up to them to determine whether disputing addresses is adding information.
As it is, Experian takes their sweet time to finish the dispute and, personally, I wouldn't have the patience to wait an additional 15 days!

YMMV.

I figured as much, but thought the pre-HIPAA may have a better chance if I got those bad addresses removed.

I think I'll call them after I get their response to the pre-HIPAA.

Thanks idon'twanna.

Completely off topic question, but I'm curious.

When I sent my pre-HIPAA disputes, I used the report #'s that I received from the credit bureau's that were sent to me in response to my address/name dispute. Is this considered a free or paid for report? I'm getting antsy and I'm trying to figure out how much longer I need to wait

As you all know I've sent out pre-HIPPA letters to all of the CRA's. I received a response back from EQ, and get this... IT'S MY FATHERS CREDIT FILE.

It has the account numbers of the accounts I disputed, but it says the following:

The disputed account number xxx and xxx are currently not reporting on your file.

OBVIOUSLY, you idiots are looking at the wrong file!!! I put my name, SSN, and report number so I don't see how this could have happened.

I really need to know what to do here... can I call EQ to get this squared away, do I get need to resend the pre-HIPAA letter? I'm at a total loss here. Please help.

In this case you need to call and work your way up to a supervisor, if they give you a hard time just say that you are prepared to file all the proper complaints and take legal action against them for their error. Be prepared to be asked for proof of your identity, i.e. copy of drivers license ss card and a recent utility bill. I suggest you attach a recorder to your phone when you call and record the entire conversation, if the call begins with a message "this call may be recorded" then you don't have to advise them that YOU are recording, if it doesn't, then as soon as you get a live human being state that the call is being recorded.

I received a response from TU today regarding my pre-HIPAA letter, and I'm a bit confused. It reads as follows:

Re: Dispute Status

After reviewing your correspondence, we are unable to determine the nature of your request. To investigate information contained in your credit report, please list the account name and number, and specify why you are disputing (for example, "this is not my account", "I have never paid late", "I have paid this account in full", etc.) Unless you provide us with this information your request will be considered frivolous under the federal Fair Credit Report Act, and we will be unable to initiate an investigation.

What the heck is this? Has anyone else run into this? Can I call them to figure out what is going on? Do I need to resend the letter? Please advise.

TU is infamous for their automated "quick" responses. Wait for the full response and check your report in about a week, as they frequently will go ahead and delete even if they have sent their automated quick response.

Thanks WhyChat. They did this to me last time... I should have remembered, sorry.

Well, I just got off the phone with EQ (Recorded as suggested). They refused to settle my dispute and said that I have to resend it. Is this possible? They were absolutely useless... I spoke to a supervisor and she told me that they haven't received anything. And no matter what I said, she said I have to resubmit the dispute. I'm freaking livid right now.

Is there anything else I can do, or should I just resubmit.

I had the same thing happen to me expect it was my DH, and we don't even use the same last names go figure.

If they say they never received it than you will have to resubmit it, you may want to consider CMRRR, for this one, or delivery confirmation, if you go this route make it look as unprofessional as possible don't get one per paid postage stamp get several and put them on crooked