I finally managed to pay all cards off at once (6 out of 7), so now I have a total balance of $0


I only have one problem, there's a medical collection I had during the summer but I forgot about it because of school. Can

someone please give me a step by step process that's a little more simple and direct to my situation than those sticky links?

It's a medical collection for $125, less than 6 months old, I haven't contacted any CA's or the doctor's office that reported the

collection. My insurance was supposed to cover it, but I blame myself for not going after them while I had the chance. You snooze

you lose I guess. Anyway, I appreciate the help in advance!

Thanks for the quick reply!

To clear up the confusion, I paid off my credit cards in full (which are not late) and have no collections on them. I was just plugging it in because I was here previously trying to pay down my debt a few months ago, and I finally managed to bring all balances to $0. I have no negatives or lates besides the medical collection I've been meaning to get rid of.

So to start the process from the very beginning ( because I haven't been in contact with any CA's or the original debtor), I send out:

LETTER TO COLLECTION AGENCY VALIDATION/DISPUTE/CEASE & DESIST
Basic All Purpose Letter

and when they reply, I send out :

HIPAA LETTER PROGRAM-DISPUTES AND PAYMENTS
For Medical Account Collections


Is that the correct process?? thanks in advance!

As to the medical account, if you are SURE that the amount is correct, and you have DOUBLE CHECKED with your insurance Co. to make ABSOLUTELY sure that they did not receive the claim, did not pay ANYTHING on it and that they will reimburse you the correct amount if you pay it, then you can pay the Dr. with a CASHIERS CHECK or BANK MONEY ORDER with a copy of the ORIGINAL bill from the Dr.'s office.

On the BACK of the check/money order, print "for deposit only account of (name of Dr.)"

Make a copy front and back of the check before sending it. DO NOT USE A PERSONAL CHECK,( even if certified)

As soon as that check/money order has cleared, send any CRA where the account is reporting, this; ( follow ALL the directions)
http://whychat.5u.com/hipaadisp.html

my mom just told me original bill was around $500 and my insurance paid half, so it went down to about $225. To get everything straight, when I call them tomorrow I should find out the exact bill amount, and what else? because if they paid half they obviously received the claim right? so once I find out the exact bill amount I should go by the doctors office and pay it with a bank money order along with a copy of the bill? (and the insurance will reimburse me? just curious, dont care if they do or not I just want this thing off my CR)

sorry for jumbling everything up!

Sounds simple enough, i'll send out that letter right away. I just cant remember which credit agency is reporting the negative.. should I send it to all three? and use the address on their site right?

Well I already got them from anualcreditreport earlier this year and I want to avoid paying for all 3 unless it's completely neccessary

Did you get free credit reports from each CRA that you have hard copies of??

I never ordered hard copies of the report, I always viewed them online

How much "earlier" this year did you get them??

last time I did it was around January. I don't think it'll let me view them again

The "free" credit report you received from "freecreditreport.com" is a rip off as it requires a very expensive and worthless credit monitoring service.

tell me about it... anyway I'll be canceling the 30 day trial, I just did it to get my free credit report from experian

Look at your original copies that you obtained from the official Government "annualcreditreport" site and see if the account you originally posted about is on THOSE reports.

they were online and since there wasn't any log in information, I lost them as soon as the browser closed. BUT that negative account wasn't on either of them. It showed up later down the road this year

You can dispute with the initial dispute letter from the earlier REALLY FREE credit reports as the one you just received is only good for Experian ( and not THAT good anyway) Hopefully it has a report # that you can use in the dispute.

You can try going on line to Eq and TU and using the "dispute" link, see if your report #'s from your earlier FREE reports will work.
DO NOT DISPUTE ANYTHING on line, just print out your reports from the dispute section to see what is there.

I dont have the report #'s anymore, had to delete my last email because of tremendous spam

As to the closed Chase account, leave it alone, it is showing as a positive, not a negative account. ( WHY did you close it??)

I didn't close it and nor did I want to. it happened when Chase began closing the millions of credit cards it absorbed from WaMu. I believe there was a thread about it here; over 3 million people having their cards closed for no reason.

Anyway it's really so much more complicated that it needs to be.. I should have ordered hard copies earlier. I guess I'll have to order one from Equifax and one from Transunion now, right? then we can get this process on the road? thanks for bearing with me on this I really appreciate it

EDIT: I found out THIS CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY. Dated 10/20/09. I can scan it if you need me to


It's a letter on THIS MEDICAL CLAIM for $125, saying that the insurance PAID IT OFF (the letter itself is from the health insurer). that is why the collection is displaying as "closed" on my report..


so now that we have all the guess work sorted out, where can we go from here? it looks like my mom got in touch with them in the last month and got the insurance company to pay it off.

Is this good or bad?

I just disputed the Experian credit report, stating it was paid on time and never late. I gave all the insurance information confirming the payment (which was on the letter I received). Should I go ahead and dispute the other two bureaus?

Hey WhyChat, I have one last question. I disputed the collection on Transunion and Experian, but Equifax remains because I can't do it online. Which letter do you advise that I send in first?

I just opted out for the first one online. What does the bottom one (ralph nader, opt-out for privacy of information) do to benefit my chances of removing the collection?? Can I just send out the bottom letter immediately to Equifax?

WhyChat, I need some serious help...


before this thread I had already initiated an online dispute with Experian in the hopes of writing a letter for the other two CRAs.

Today, Experian finished the results of my online dispute. Status: Updated. "• Updated - A change was made to this item; review this report to view the change. If ownership of the item was disputed, then it was verified as belonging to you."

I didn't send a pre HIPPA letter to the other ones because I had already initiated this one, and I was afraid they'd link me or something and take legal action for sending two different statements.


BOTTOM LINE: what can I do now? the other two bureaus are most likely to follow suit

here's what it said :


"Status Details:
This account is scheduled to continue on record until Apr 2015.
This item was verified and updated on Nov 2009. "

This is a fairly new medical account?? Date of service in 2008??

Was it paid?? Do you have a bill from the HC provider??

Do you have an EOMB ( explanation of medical benefits) from your insurer??

The collection was reported in 2009 a good 5 months ago. It also turns out that the insurance company only paid a portion of it and the remaining $125 shows up on all 3 CRAs (opened on two, and closed on one...unusual?) I have an EOMB from my insurance provider, don't know if I have the bill from the HC (it's around here somewhere in a stack of papers. is it alright if I cant find it since I have the EOMB?)

Is this good? All I do is put the check in the envelope with it via staple or paperclip? I don't send it certified mail right? Sorry this should be the last of the questions WHAT??? No you send it CMRR and make SURE it is a Bank CASHIERS CHECK or BANK MONEY ORDER. Do NOT send a personal check, even if certified, make SURE you have the back printed in the endorsement area, "for deposit only, account of (name of OC)" Did you READ the instructions??
http://whychat.5u.com/hipltr.html




*********
*********
*********
s.s.n. #*********
HIPAA Compliance Office
*********
*********
*********
November 9, 2009

Dear Sir/Madam;
This letter is in reference to account #:****************** for services provided to PAUL J ASH on


In regard to the bill on this account in the amount of ($125):

Enclosed please find my remittance of ($125) for payment in full of this account.

Please note, my remittance is payable ONLY to Gruber, David M MD - Andover Dermatology, and may not be signed over or transferred to any third party collection agency, as this would constitute an additional violation of HIPAA and State Privacy Act rules .

Copies of this correspondence and a copy of the remittance check may be used for any further actions with State or Federal agencies.

Please be advised that under Federal Statutes. the Fair Credit Reporting Act, (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq)and New Hampshire's Consumer Credit Statutes,and subtitle D of the ARRA ,SEC. 13401. APPLICATION OF SECURITY PROVISIONS AND PENALTIES TO BUSINESS ASSOCIATES OF COVERED ENTITIES;and SEC. 13407(1) BREACH OF SECURITY.�€�The term �€˜�€˜breach of security�€™�€™ means, with respect to unsecured PHR identifiable health information of an individual in a personal health record, acquisition of such information without the authorization of the individual. you may be held liable for the actions of Credit Bureau Associates Northeast. Please note that the effective date for commencing enforcement of penalties against you for any vicarious liability is February 17, 2009.

(a) Duty of furnishers of information to provide accurate information.
(1) Prohibition.
(A) Reporting information with actual knowledge of errors.
A person shall not furnish any information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if the person knows or consciously avoids knowing that the information is inaccurate.

In addition, the HIPAA and New Hampshire's Medical Privacy Statutes and the penalty provisions of the ARRA section D, privacy provisions are in effect in this situation even though the health care services you provided may have been prior to enactment of HIPAA or ARRA .
The Privacy Rules prohibits a covered entity from using or disclosing an individual's protected health information ("PHI") unless specifically authorized by the individual or otherwise allowed under the Privacy Rules.
In general, PHI encompasses substantially all "individually identifiable health information" that is transmitted or maintained in any medium. "Individually identifiable health information" includes health information that is created or received by a health care provider, health plan, employer, or health care clearinghouse, and that relates to an individual's physical or mental health or condition, including information related to an individual's care or the PAYMENT for such care.

Your furnishing of my account information to Credit Bureau Associates Northeast, is not in compliance with HIPAA,or New Hampshire's Privacy Act, and any subsequent reporting of this account on my credit reports to Equifax, Experan, and Transunion, is a clear violation of Public Law 104-191 ("HIPAA") since there can be no permissible business purpose in divulging protected health information to anyone on an account once there is no longer any payment due.

You are required under the FCRA and FACTA to accurately report the status of any account to the credit bureaus, and you are prohibited under the HIPAA and State privacy regulations from doing so on a PAID account, as there is no longer any permitted business purpose.

Therefore I am requesting you promptly rescind all such account information furnished to Credit Bureau Associates Northeast, and require them to purge their records of all reference to this account, and that you insure that any and all reporting of this account is immediately deleted from my credit reports.

This simple procedure to request the deletion of ALL reference to this account from the records of Credit Bureau Associates Northeast and to require them to have this account information deleted in its entirety from my credit reports will resolve this problem completely.
Please respond, in writing within 10 days that you are processing this request.
I am reserving the right, to take appropriate legal and civil action including reporting to any applicable regulatory authorities any lack of cooperation or compliance with this request.
I hereby waive my rights under HIPAA and any State Privacy Act for the single purpose of your transmission of this request and accompanying documentation in any required report you must make to your E &O insurance carrier.

Sincerely,

*********

My mom called the OC without me knowing (found out today) and said she talked to a woman that worked there. The woman said she'd take care of it and remove the collection from my credit report if I paid. I told my mom that they don't hold true to their word unless I send this letter with the bank cashiers check first, certified mail.

Even though they said they'd remove the collection account from my credit report AFTER they received the check, I should still send the HIPPA letter with insert A right?

I have everything here and ready to go. Just confused about one part before I sign the bank cashier's check.
You don't sign the bank cashier's check, a representative from the bank does. Your are essential purchasing the cashier's check from them bank. I have been through this a few times and I have never signed a bank cashier's check, it has always been signed by an employee of the bank.


On Why Chat's site:

that it is made to the order of THE ORIGINAL HEALTH CARE PROVIDER, and that you print or type clearly in the endorsement section "For Deposit Only to the Account of (name of H.C. provider)(This of course allows your IRS deduction as a medical expense).

For example. do I put:

Gruber, David M MD - Andover Dermatology (This would be the be way to go)

or just

Andover Dermatology

?

So on the back of this BOFA money order where it says


ENDORSE CHECK HERE
X______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________



I put in
ENDORSE CHECK HERE
X For Deposit Only to the Account
of Gruber, David M MD - Andover Dermatology
Account #: ############### Put this on the front which would leave a line for them to sign on
I thought they have to sign there in order to cash it in?

wow!

Ive got some VERY unusual news. Equifax just DELETED the collection off my credit report! This was the one I sent in the MyFico letter with. The other two that I disputed online were "verified" and left alone. What the hell does this mean

Disputing on line merely matches your name automatically in their computer system.