Best Approach On Odd Collections Acct.

[Mr. Media]

Been away from CB for a long time... but I could once again use some help on something.

 

I moved to Washington state briefly for work during 2012, and during that time my wife experienced a medical episode that required an ER visit. The total bill rang out to around $7,500. I was mailing small payments to the hospital each month (which they agreed to) to pay it off. We didn't have any kind of plan for that sort of bill to pop up suddenly, and at the time, using our emergency fund didn't seem appropriate if we could pay it off over time. However, in the chaos of moving back OUT of Washington state, I forgot a payment, and they instantly forwarded the account to collections. The hospital account was in my wife's name ONLY.

 

I screwed up and didn't deal with it. Few months later... *I* got a collections notice with MY name on it from the same people. I rushed to pull reports, and found they reported a new collections account on TU and EX. Dangit. I called at once and demanded to know what was going on. The rep. stated that because Washington is a community property state, my wife's bills are my bills. However, I tried to be coy with the guy and said that while I know who (my wife's name) is... why was he under the impression she's my wife. He couldn't really answer that. I asked if he had any proof that she's my wife, and he turned it around and asked if I could prove that she isn't. He wasn't very nice, as none of them are... so I basically told the guy that this wasn't my responsibility and he should remove it at once. I also asked why he thinks that I live in Washington, but he couldn't answer that. I maintained my Nevada mailing address, and ALL credit correspondence went to the NV address for the nine months I was in WA, so I thought maybe I could dance around that some more, but he didn't budge much on anything.

 

Few days later both TU and EX report the account as "disputed by consumer..."

 

The account is roughly $5,200 which is the $7,500 original bill minus roughly what we paid. If they've added anything at all, it has been very minimal based on my calculations.

 

My question for the group is... what do you think the best approach is to getting this deleted from my reports? We have the cash to pay them (full balance), but based on the previous experience I fear they are not the kind to delete after payment. I JUST had my old paid/settled baddies from 2007 drop off my reports... I don't want this to linger for 7 more years. Should I hire an attorney? Should I dispute with the credit agencies first? I'm lost on this one.

 

Thanks in advance guys... I appreciate you all.

[ICANHASMUNY?]

was it a non profit hospital ?

 

http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=524013

[Mr. Media]

was it a non profit hospital ?

 

http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=524013

 

No...

[ICANHASMUNY?]

then try whychats method - on the medical billings forum - if you hit the report button and ask the admins to move the thread, they'll do that so you don't have to repost it all .

[Mr. Media]

I'll give that a whirl... thank you.

[Why Chat]

Follow the guides:( do this for BOTH you and your wife)

 

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

 

http://www.whychat.5u.com/GUIDE%20HIPAA%20PROGRAM.html

 

The initial dispute letter should help resolve your problems,

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

 

If you receive a response from the reporting CA AS A RESULT OF THIS INITIAL DISPUTE LETTER, then you have documentation of a CURRENT relationship between the OC and the CA and you can pay the OC the CORRECT AMOUNT with the HIPAA letter insert "a"

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

 

To find the CORRECT amount to pay, use this guide ( minus any payment you have made)

https://www.healthcarebluebook.com/

 

If you do NOT get an immediate response from the reporting CA as a result of your initial dispute, and the account is NOT deleted from your reports, then you send the medical DV to the reporting CA.

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

and then send the follow up dispute to the CRAs

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

 

 

if you have any questions, come back to THIS POST for further instructions.

Edited November 2, 2014 by Why Chat