CA response has me confused, now what?

[Menta33]

I'm trying to follow the method here: http://whychat.5u.com/hipltr.html on a medical collection account appearing only on my friend's Experian credit report.

I first disputed with Experian and it came back with the result of "Remains". They did not supply the name and address of the doctors nor the dates and type of service, nor to whom the services were supplied, nor the name of the person who supplied the information to them. The Experian collection entry only states the CA and the original creditor as PROVIDER and date opened. Is this response as expected and was I right to continue to the next step?

Then I sent a DV to the collection agency and I got two letters back from them.

The second letter, sent five days after the first states in part:

 

This letter is to confirm that the below mentioned accounts have been paid in full.

If this account was recorded to the credit bureaus, we will nodify the credit bureaus accordingly.

Spelling error is theirs. Below the signature line are listed three accounts with $0 balance, but none of their "Our Acct #" match the collection account number reported to Experian, although the "Client Name" does match what Experian shows.

 

The first letter that I got back first states in part:

 

We are in receipt of your correspondence dated 12/xx/2014. Please allow this letter to serve as a response to your validation request.

CA received the above referenced account in our office on 6/xx/2010. The original services occurred with PROVIDER on 7/xx/2009. The remaining balance on the account, as of the date of this letter, is $xxx. Your request for validation of the account has been forwarded to our client.

I believe this letter adequately responds to your requests. Please contact your account services, CA at TELEPHONE to make arrangements for payment on this account.

 

The first letter also includes a computer printout for the account at CA for PROVIDER, however, no mention of what service was provided, only a total balance, date of service, date of referral, and interest charges at 10% per annum.

 

Now, this is not proper DV as there is no signature provided by me and a computer printout is not DV. Further, they did not comply with my request to provide a copy of their agreement with PROVIDER that grants CA authority to collect on the alleged debt nor did they show my HIPAA authorization.

 

Therefore, I think the next step is to do the following:

• Send HIPAA letter to Health Care Provider.
• Include the original debt amount (ignoring the interest CA added).

Is this correct, do I ignore the interest charges and only pay the principal? Or since I don't have proper DV, should I not pay the principal either? Does the letter confirm a current relationship since they did not provide.

 

Alternatively, perhaps I should keep waiting until CA gets validation from OC and passes on to me? Alternatively, perhaps I should send "FOLLOW UP LETTER TO CRA" via CM (no RR)?

 

My ultimate goal is to get the CA deleted from Experian in the fastest way possible, so paying more than I might if I take longer is worth it.

[Sandscrit]

Was the account paid in full or was there a balance due to the medical providers?

[Menta33]

Was the account paid in full or was there a balance due to the medical providers?

 

Assuming there is a balance due, and hence that is why it went to collections, strange that it only showed up in April 2014, but without confirmation from OC, I'm not certain.

[Sandscrit]

The bill is paid in full so your friend doesn't owe the CA zilch. A dispute with the CA over the paid account would be the next move. Make the CA prove money is due. Use Why Chat's paid account letter to the CA.

[Menta33]

The bill is paid in full so your friend doesn't owe the CA zilch. A dispute with the CA over the paid account would be the next move. Make the CA prove money is due. Use Why Chat's paid account letter to the CA.

 

I'm still confused, the CA is reporting a balance due to the CA and the CA says in their first letter that a balance is due, but CA has failed to properly DV, for Why Chat's paid account letter to the CA, the closest I can find is this one:

 

Alternate Medical DV for accounts that have been PAID TO THE REPORTING CA AND ARE BEING REPORTED AS "PAID COLLECTIONS"

Is that the one you mean, because the account is not reporting as "paid collection"?

Edited January 6, 2015 by Menta33

[Menta33]

Has anyone created a flow chart for Why Chat's medical HIPAA letter program that can be linked to?

[Menta33]

Anyone?

[Menta33]

Still wondering.

[Sandscrit]

Menta, is the account paid in full?

[Menta33]

Menta, is the account paid in full?

 

This is unknown since proper DV was not provided by CA. CA reports to CRA that balance is still due. CA provides two responses to DV, first saying balance is due (matching CRA reporting), second saying no balance but perhaps this is for a different service date.

[Sandscrit]

Send another dispute either by letter(CRRM), certified fax or certified Email and ask for a clarification. What state?

[Menta33]

Send another dispute either by letter(CRRM), certified fax or certified Email and ask for a clarification. What state?

 

California for both debtor and CA.

[Sandscrit]

 

Send another dispute either by letter(CRRM), certified fax or certified Email and ask for a clarification. What state?

 

California for both debtor and CA.

 

Have you taken a goof look at the California (Rosenthal) Fair Debt Collection Act?

[Menta33]

 

 

Send another dispute either by letter(CRRM), certified fax or certified Email and ask for a clarification. What state?

 

California for both debtor and CA.

 

Have you taken a goof look at the California (Rosenthal) Fair Debt Collection Act?

 

 

Not recently, will review it again, but even under federal FDCPA rules, they have not validated the debt.

[Why Chat]

Follow the guides

 

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

 

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

 

After opting out and deleting old addresses, you send the initial dispute letter to the CRAs

If that doesn't get you a deletion, you send the appropriate medical DV to the reporting CA and upon obtaining proof of delivery send the follow up dispute to the CRA(s)

 

There is no way that any kind of " flow chart" can be possible as every situation is different and what is appropriate for one person may not be appropriate for another. The guides are the closest thing to a "flow chart" and if followed should yield good results.

[Menta33]

We have now completed up to the step of follow up dispute to the CRA (Experian) that CM shows they received on January 13, 2015. Have not gotten written response back from Experian yet, but just checked the back door and the account includes this text: "Reinvestigation information: This item remained unchanged from our processing of your dispute in Oct 2014." So it appears we will be getting a letter saying account remains. Further I notice a pattern that each time we contact either Experian or the Collection Agency, the CA updates the account history for that month as "C" for collection and other months with no contact just show as "ND" for No Data. A side question, does each "C" for a month make this a recent derogatory as of that month for FICO purposes?

 

Note that the CA is RASH CURTIS & ASSOCIATES which I believe is a JDB and the account says it was opened in the summer of 2010, but only first reported in the spring of 2014, perhaps due to a mortgage inquiry showing up on the credit report and his not being opted out at that time. The original debt here is only about $100, so should we proceed with paying the OC now using the appropriate HIPAA letter and insert? We just want this off the credit report as fast as possible, been working on this since September 2014.

 

Also note that the follow up dispute to CRA was sent after getting DV response back from CA, not immediately upon CMRR proof of delivery.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Menta33

[Menta33]

So are we correct to pay the OC now with the HIPAA letter and insert? Once paid, how do we get the CA off the CRA?

[Why Chat]

Exactly WHAT communication have you had from the reporting CA that documents a CURRENT relationship between them and the OC??

 

If they are NOT in a current relationship and you pay the OC it will have no effect on your reports.

 

DO NOT pay anyone on an old account being reported by a JDB.

 

You opted out??

You deleted old addresses??

You sent the initial dispute letter to the CRAs??

 

Did you get ANY deletions??

 

Did you send the medical DV to the reporting CA?

Did you send the follow up disputes to the CRAs??

 

What was THAT response??

[Menta33]

Exactly WHAT communication have you had from the reporting CA that documents a CURRENT relationship between them and the OC??

 

If they are NOT in a current relationship and you pay the OC it will have no effect on your reports.

 

DO NOT pay anyone on an old account being reported by a JDB.

 

You opted out?? Yes at beginning of January 2015.

You deleted old addresses?? N/A, not moved for ten plus years.

You sent the initial dispute letter to the CRAs?? Yes, only appears on Experian.

 

Did you get ANY deletions?? No

 

Did you send the medical DV to the reporting CA? Yes

Did you send the follow up disputes to the CRAs?? Yes, but not until after receiving the DV response.

 

What was THAT response?? No written response yet from Experian from their Jan 13 receipt of 2nd dispute, but back door shows account as not in dispute.

Because my written explanation of the letter was not clear, I am posting redacted images of the letters for help determining whether these letters document a current relationship.

 

Here is the first letter received:

 

 

 

Here is the second letter received:

 

 

Edited January 31, 2015 by Menta33

[Menta33]

Here is the current reporting to Experian as of backdoor yesterday:

 

[Why Chat]

Is this reporting as a paid account??

[Menta33]

Is this reporting as a paid account?? No (see reporting just added above).

[Menta33]

I still need help determining whether these letters document a current relationship between the CA and the OC?

[Why Chat]

No, it is obvious that they are NOT in a current business relationship with the OC. If they WERE in a current business relationship the account would be reporting as a paid collection, since you have already paid it. In addition, the medical service was done in 2009, so it is close to its obsolescence anyway.

[Menta33]

No, it is obvious that they are NOT in a current business relationship with the OC. If they WERE in a current business relationship the account would be reporting as a paid collection, since you have already paid it. In addition, the medical service was done in 2009, so it is close to its obsolescence anyway.

 

It is unclear to me that it has been paid, in one letter, a balance was due, in another, zero balance. Perhaps there were two accounts with the same OC provider, one was paid, another was not.

 

Not sure how to proceed on this one. Should we try and get an EOB from the original service in July of 2009? That might be tough since it is so long ago.