Collections question

Noodleface

A Mod Real Quick
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This is also bad advice. If they do any of that you have thousands of dollars in free income from FDCPA violations. Speaking with the agency is going to be the quickest way to get any information if you cannot find out who the creditor is yourself. If they harass you like Noodleface suggests, take their money. Record their calls if they don't.

If you deal with this by 'certified mail' you are going to take 60 days and get exactly nothing of what you want accomplished.
What the fuck world do you live in? They will and do harass and pressure people to pay off debts. The original creditor cannot do anything once the debt is sold to a collections agency.
 

Noodleface

A Mod Real Quick
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15,023
I am bowing out, this goes against everything I've read and done personally. If I am wrong so be it.
 

Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
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Update.

I got an invoice from the hospital. The original $137 was two different bills. One for $118 and one for around $20.

I had paid the $20 one and had a cancelled check. I sent a copy to the hospital and they removed it. I checked with the collection agency and they had it removed and will update Dec. 1 when they send all their info in. I have it in writing. Apparently your credit score is not affected by collections of less than $100 so we will see.

My sister who was previously in collections and knew the company (small town) called and talked to the manager. They agreed to remove the collection if I paid and I also have it in writing.

My sister also said you can dispute a collection and the credit reportin agencies (3 of them) have 30 days to respond. She also said in her experience if it's small and medical they normally don't investigate it and just drop it.

So the process is in the works for now. I'm not paying the $118 until I see the $20 one is off first.

Also since my good credit score previously (805) was based on long payment history and no late payments etc...(30 year history, long story in one of my original post) and I had no outstanding accounts like a morgage or car loan and only 1 credit card I decided to apply for another credit card just to see.

I applied and got a rate of 12.9% and a $20k credit limit. So I'll just try and break it out and order something every so often I guess.

Also I'm not sure but I believe the collections agency is tied in with the hospital. They share an address and have almost the same number.
 

Jysin

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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That credit card rate of 12.9% is horrible. I have a Platinum MC with a $20k limit at 7.9%
 

Khane

Got something right about marriage
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Worrying about the percentage rate on a credit card is weird. Being afraid of credit cards is also weird.

Just use them as if they were cash, never charge something you can't immediately pay off in the same day.

Not using credit cards is actually a waste for you as a consumer. You're paying for everyone else to use and reap the benefits of credit cards, all while not using them yourself. Before you apply for credit cards you should research at a site like nerdwallet to see which ones work best for you and how you normally spend your cash.

Compare Best: Credit Cards | Car Insurance | CD Rates | Savings | Brokerages | Mortgages
 

Jysin

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Khane, I do pay mine off every month. My comment about his lousy APR was in direct response to his worry about the effects of this collection on his credit score. The APR you will likely get is weighted on your FICO for the most part. He said he had a previous 805 score, so 12.9% is a terrible rate and could indicate this collection is effecting his rates. Or, he just signed up for a shitty card program...
 

Kuriin

Just a Nurse
4,046
1,020
I'm kind of shocked that they would send this to collections in just 60 days. It's typicallymonths(as in, close to 5-8 months) after not getting paid. I think I'm even more shocked by that small of bill for intracranial pressure care. Haha.
 

Khane

Got something right about marriage
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Khane, I do pay mine off every month. My comment about his lousy APR was in direct response to his worry about the effects of this collection on his credit score. The APR you will likely get is weighted on your FICO for the most part. He said he had a previous 805 score, so 12.9% is a terrible rate and could indicate this collection is effecting his rates. Or, he just signed up for a shitty card program...
Well I was talking more to Borzak about using Credit Cards. But you should know 12.9% is not a terrible rate at all. My FICO score is 817 and I regularly get offers at 14.99% or higher at 25k credit limits. That's just how credit cards are, it's why you don't want to ever carry a balance.
 

Jysin

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Jeez. That still seems crazy for rates. I own only two cards and they are 7.9% on my Platinum Master Card with $20k limit and 9.9% on my Signature Rewards Visa with $50k limit. I pulled my score a couple months back and I was 804 or 806. Can't remember.
 

Khane

Got something right about marriage
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Jeez. That still seems crazy for rates. I own only two cards and they are 7.9% on my Platinum Master Card with $20k limit and 9.9% on my Signature Rewards Visa with $50k limit. I pulled my score a couple months back and I was 804 or 806. Can't remember.
It depends on the card really. The better the rewards the higher the APR typically because they know people are more willing to push spending limits when they have cards with good rewards. They also do it for cards that offer huge sign up bonuses. People rush to meet the spending quotas which in some cases are as much as $5k in the first 3 months.
 

Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
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I'm kind of shocked that they would send this to collections in just 60 days. It's typicallymonths(as in, close to 5-8 months) after not getting paid. I think I'm even more shocked by that small of bill for intracranial pressure care. Haha.
Those bills actually had nothing to do with it. The first thing they did back in March was an MRI and they saw lesions which suggested MS or even what I actually had ADEM. Those charges were for scans of my artieries in my neck to see if I had a blockage....which really made no sense to me to begin with. The good news is at age 43 I have a below average blockage in my arteries according to the vacsular doctor.

Anyway I still have not got a bill from the collections agency. They told me verbally of the 2 charges. I have 2 cancelled checks for that amount to the hospital. That could be because that's the standard fee for multiple things I had done. However, won't stop me from attaching them to a dispute and say the bill was paid since I can't get an invoice from them.

I have no idea what a good APR on a credit card is. The one I have had for nearly 30 years is 9.9%. I think I carried a balance maybe twice in that time period. I have a line of credit with my bank associated with my business as I also still have it and am self employed. I had an american express card that I normally used in business from '91 to 2010 when it just wasn't worth it anymore for what I was using it for.

Still odd things happening. Just out of curiousity I called the bank and asked them about the RD loan I applied for before all this happened. She called me back in less than an hour and said it was still all good.
 

Palum

what Suineg set it to
26,289
40,630
Update.

I got an invoice from the hospital. The original $137 was two different bills. One for $118 and one for around $20.

I had paid the $20 one and had a cancelled check. I sent a copy to the hospital and they removed it. I checked with the collection agency and they had it removed and will update Dec. 1 when they send all their info in. I have it in writing. Apparently your credit score is not affected by collections of less than $100 so we will see.

My sister who was previously in collections and knew the company (small town) called and talked to the manager. They agreed to remove the collection if I paid and I also have it in writing.

My sister also said you can dispute a collection and the credit reportin agencies (3 of them) have 30 days to respond. She also said in her experience if it's small and medical they normally don't investigate it and just drop it.

So the process is in the works for now. I'm not paying the $118 until I see the $20 one is off first.

Also since my good credit score previously (805) was based on long payment history and no late payments etc...(30 year history, long story in one of my original post) and I had no outstanding accounts like a morgage or car loan and only 1 credit card I decided to apply for another credit card just to see.

I applied and got a rate of 12.9% and a $20k credit limit. So I'll just try and break it out and order something every so often I guess.

Also I'm not sure but I believe the collections agency is tied in with the hospital. They share an address and have almost the same number.
That's good news. Two things 1- they say it won't affect your score. Some scores yes, some no. Unless you know exactly what scores and which version your theoretical future lenders use, it's wise to get whatever you can cleaned up, so overall good news for you. 2 - that CA is first party, as they are representing the hospital they will have the hospitals info. The are likely not 'in the building' unless they are not an agency at all, but rather just employees of the hospital (which it doesn't seem that way from your statements).
 

Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
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I had started a dispute with Experion on the collection. I scanned my canceled checks and sent them in along with an explanation. They have an online deal and say they must respond within 30 days. I heard back this morning and it is being removed with no explanation. I need to investigate to see if I need to dispute it with the other 2 reporting agencies or if they will remove it now that it is off of one. My sister had mentioned that if you get it disputed and removed from one it comes off the other 2. She was pretty much dead on so far with her other advice.

I'll checked my experion report this morning and it's gone. 30 years of credit history with no negatives, no late payments etc...I will check to see how quickly the credit score gets updated.
 

Xequecal

Trump's Staff
11,559
-2,388
A few years back, a non profit I was involved in caused me to have an 86 point drop in credit score, over $47. I was paying for their website, they were supposed to take over billing, and they didn't. We told the hosting company that we'd pay the amount, if they'd send a letter to the credit bureaus, and it came off. But it took 90 days to rectify. I'd suggest Borzak do the same. Tell them you'll pay, but only if they send you a letter stating they'll have it removed from your credit bureau. Don't just pay it blindly, they won't do anything once they get their money.
I lost something like 60 points to fucking World of Warcraft. When I resubbed it was still defaulting to a very old credit card with a $0 balance that I hadn't used in years. I put in new card information but somehow must not have actually selected the new card as the card to use. I had since moved and never updated my address with the old card as I never used it, so I never got any of the notices. I only figured it out when they refused to accept another charge and WoW stopped letting me log in. I called them up and paid it but even though the report shows it as paid and closed the "30 days late" status is going to remain there for the next seven years. Sucks, my score was like 790 and I was looking forward to having an 800 score.
 

Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
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Wow. I thought it just would be declined, what are they trying to collect? I assumed they tried to charge to it once a month and if it wa declined that was it, end of service.
 

Xequecal

Trump's Staff
11,559
-2,388
No, it was charged successfully for two months. Three charges, one at the start and one more after each month. The fourth one was declined.

I admit I probably should have noticed it wasn't on my card, but I don't scrutinize it that closely since I'm not responsible for any fraud in the first place.
 

Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
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I guess I'm dense. I fail to see how a decline in a recurring charge goes to collections. I thought if it was declined one month, that was it you just didn't get use of the subscription.
 

Khane

Got something right about marriage
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And he's saying why the hell didn't Blizzard just deactivate your account? It's ridiculous that they would continue to let you play and then send that to collections when all they had to do was deactivate your account because you didn't pay. If I'm not mistaken you get charged up front, at the start of the month, not the end after you've been playing all month.

It's actually kind of unbelievable to be honest. I've had similar situations where my CC expired and I forgot to change it, and the game I was subscribing to just deactivated my account when it was declined.
 

Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
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I thought that is what happened. What are they going to collect? A payment for a service not delivered yet?