Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (Full Version)

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danas_mom -> Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/8/2008 4:43:06 PM)

I just pulled hubby's credit thru annualcreditreport.com and noticed that there is a small collection (less than $250) from the hospital where our children were delivered, dated May '05. (The date opened was January '05.) It states "Paid,Closed/Collection Account. Account closed at credit grantor's request."

I have no idea what this is. January '05 would have been about five months after our youngest child was born. In all honesty, it could be something from the delivery we owed at the time and weren't able to pay, or it could be related to insurance, I just don't know. I don't remember anything about it. (We had a death in the family the week our youngest was born and the months after that are just a blur.)

Should I dispute it in an attempt to find out what it was pertaining to, or just leave it alone? We're not going to be trying to get credit for anything anytime soon, but I don't want something so small to be affecting any interest rates on things we already have either.

TIA!



relady -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/8/2008 4:50:52 PM)

What is your hubby's credit score? If it's a good credit score, it probably isn't hurting you much, if at all. It's 3 years old and shows paid. If it were me, I would probably let it go unless it stopped me from getting credit I needed.



danas_mom -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/8/2008 6:37:51 PM)

I don't know our score, you have to pay to see the score and since we're not trying to get credit for anything right now, I don't figure it's worth paying for at the moment.

We have a handful of other old past due accounts (I think the most recent was January '06) but those are the only ones under the "not in good standing" category.

Thanks for the advice!



GroupW -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/8/2008 6:53:19 PM)

I always think it's easiest to clear these up sooner while it's not an issue than later when heaven forbid it could be.

If you have the time, I'd make something of an attempt. I don't know that I'd let it dominate my spare time, but I'd start on it.

BT



phosadaud -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/8/2008 9:11:23 PM)

If you still owe someone money, why wouldn't you try to pay them back?



Papa-san -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/8/2008 9:55:35 PM)

Call the hospital and see if they can tell you what it was, and why the insurance didn't pay for it. Having worked in a few of them, I have seen so many of their unpaid bills being added to the accounts of people with good insurance. (It's wrong, but they do it all the time, hoping it's going to slip through... Usually it does!)

Get that information and then dispute it with the credit reporting agency if it isn't your debt. It's been written off, and is almost halfway done with it's time on your record...



danas_mom -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/8/2008 11:43:22 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: phosadaud

If you still owe someone money, why wouldn't you try to pay them back?


I don't know that I "still owe someone money" - I have no idea what this is. This is the first time it's shown up on our credit, and I try to remember to pull it every year or so to check on it. It may have been something they tried to collect on and because things were so crazy back then, we never paid it --- or they may never have tried to collect on it from us at all and this is something to do with the insurance. I don't know. That's the whole point.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Papa-san

Call the hospital and see if they can tell you what it was, and why the insurance didn't pay for it. Having worked in a few of them, I have seen so many of their unpaid bills being added to the accounts of people with good insurance. (It's wrong, but they do it all the time, hoping it's going to slip through... Usually it does!)


Thanks, I will try that first and if they're not able to tell me anything, I'll dispute it though the bureau to see if I can at least find out what it is. I know all of my bills to the doctor's office were paid in full, but there may have been some sort of fee from the hospital I wasn't aware of.



phosadaud -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/9/2008 10:14:55 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: danas_mom

quote:

ORIGINAL: phosadaud

If you still owe someone money, why wouldn't you try to pay them back?


I don't know that I "still owe someone money" - I have no idea what this is. This is the first time it's shown up on our credit, and I try to remember to pull it every year or so to check on it. It may have been something they tried to collect on and because things were so crazy back then, we never paid it --- or they may never have tried to collect on it from us at all and this is something to do with the insurance. I don't know. That's the whole point.


No offense, but that's my point. I don't understand what the issue is here. You asked whether you should just ignore it or what. I'm saying - find out what it is and if you owe it, make it right. If you really owe it and ignore it, that's no different that stealing IMHO.



Papa-san -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/9/2008 10:43:31 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: danas_mom

Thanks, I will try that first and if they're not able to tell me anything, I'll dispute it though the bureau to see if I can at least find out what it is. I know all of my bills to the doctor's office were paid in full, but there may have been some sort of fee from the hospital I wasn't aware of.
If it was on the up-and-up, this would not be the first time you would have heard about it. (generally true, though sometimes hospitals don't get too active with collections, especially when the patient has pretty good insurance.) They send a couple of letters and if there isn't a response, they just write it off... What month do they say the date of service was? Near the end of the year they try to wrap up their financials, and get the best write-off they can...



danas_mom -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/9/2008 3:19:49 PM)

OK I called the hospital and got a phone number for the collection agency, and when I called there the guy told me that this was from an old claim. He said that the account was paid in full, by us, and that he would send a letter out to that effect.

But, when I tried to go in and dispute the claim thru the credit bureau (because I don't want to go past the 30 days that this report is available to me, waiting on the letter, and have to pay for another report) and entered the dispute reason "Account paid in full" it won't let me continue because it says that's the way it's already being reported.

So..........I'm confused. Why does it say 'Account closed at credit grantor's request' if it's being reported as paid in full - to me that is conflicting??? It has been over a decade since I worked in accounts receivable though, so I may just be reading it wrong.

Can anyone clarify this part for me? Thanks!



relady -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/9/2008 6:08:25 PM)

quote:

So..........I'm confused. Why does it say 'Account closed at credit grantor's request' if it's being reported as paid in full - to me that is conflicting???
It the way they report an account that was not closed by you, but by whomever owned the account. It was open until it was paid and then closed. I think you can only dispute an amount if it's active and unpaid -- if I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me. [;)]



LCannon -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/9/2008 6:29:45 PM)

Well since it's paid and closed I wouldn't bother except, possibility, who/what closed and if the hospital even knows or would reveal it. Best avenue is let sleeping dogs lie and thank God and donor!



relady -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/10/2008 4:35:55 PM)

I think that in order to get it removed from your credit report you would have to get the collection agency or whomever reported it to have it removed, at this point. Usually, if it's an open bill and it's actively disputed they are not allowed to put it on your credit report, but once it is on there the way this is, it is the creditor that would have to agree to remove it and they would have to contact the credit bureau to give the ok for that.



legalnicki -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/11/2008 11:41:55 AM)

I'm not sure that this is really a negative factor on your credit report that merits a dispute. It is simply a factual statement that the account was paid, so the hospital closed the account.

We actually had a $25 bill go to collection (and on our credit report) after the birth of our youngest in 2000. The hospital did send statements that boldly read "This is Not a Bill", and showed that the insurance company was billed. The insurance company didn't receive the bill, so it never got paid, hence the collection. When we tried to dispute this item with the credit reporting agencies, they all refused to remove it because it was a factual statement. The bill *had* gone into collection, and had been paid and the account closed. When we got our mortgage, we just had to get a letter from the hospital that showed that the account was paid, and we were good to go.



danas_mom -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/11/2008 6:28:39 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: legalnicki

I'm not sure that this is really a negative factor on your credit report that merits a dispute. It is simply a factual statement that the account was paid, so the hospital closed the account.


Yeah the impression I'm getting is that there's not really anything I can do about it, but it does bug me that it's listed under the "potentially negative" page on our report.

Thanks everyone for the advice!



APZR -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/14/2008 12:26:22 PM)

YES... I would dispute it. If you were to try and buy, sell, or refinance any real estate, that will come up as an item that must be paid at closing.



danas_mom -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/14/2008 1:55:49 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: APZR

YES... I would dispute it. If you were to try and buy, sell, or refinance any real estate, that will come up as an item that must be paid at closing.


Hmm, so do I just go in and try to dispute it under other reasons (as I already said above, it would not let me proceed when I entered 'Account paid in full' as the dispute) until it goes thru? Or what? I'm not sure what to do at this point.



legalnicki -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/14/2008 4:45:12 PM)

If you had paid it, and it showed up as unpaid on your credit report, then you'd have cause to dispute it. However, the credit report accurately reflects that it has been paid, so I guess I'm still not seeing the problem here.



APZR -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/14/2008 9:59:24 PM)

It's on your credit report, and all 3 reporting agencies are notoriously wrong. So contest it with the credit reporting agency, they'll go back to the debtor and ask for proof that you owe the $$$. If they don't respond or can't provide documentation you owe, it has to be removed. Understand however, this is not a fast process. It can take several months to get clear... they move at the speed of big biz and Gobment.



Papa-san -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/14/2008 10:59:20 PM)

Also, remember that they will summarily deny it the first time. They won't even look at it for real until you send your denial of their 'findings'. You'll need to be tenacious.



relady -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/14/2008 11:18:08 PM)

quote:

It's on your credit report, and all 3 reporting agencies are notoriously wrong. So contest it with the credit reporting agency, they'll go back to the debtor and ask for proof that you owe the $$$. If they don't respond or can't provide documentation you owe, it has to be removed.
I thought this would only work if the bill is showing as outstanding. I believe the OP mentioned that it is showing Paid and Closed. I think he/she will have a difficult time contesting something that apparently is already paid. Or am I missing something?



Papa-san -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/15/2008 9:23:53 AM)

No, you can contest anything that is on your credit report. It doesn't matter what it's status is. If it's there, it can be wrong.



relady -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/15/2008 8:26:52 PM)

Okie dokee. You learn something every day. LOL. Good to know.



Papa-san -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/16/2008 10:52:52 AM)

Last year, I discovered that Equifax still has my student loans on my record, including the three months they were late. They have been paid off since 1994! I had to fight with them to get them off of there, but with persistence, they finally were taken off. Those three months of late payments in 1991 had dropped my credit score by over 80 points! Nothing is allowed to be there over ten years, as far as I know... That's the argument I used, and they acted on it accordingly.

Look very carefully at all three, and look over every line!



relady -> RE: Should I dispute this? Or leave it alone? (4/16/2008 4:06:45 PM)

Wow Papa-san! Wow. That's like waaaay over the limit for how long those should be on there, LOL It pays to be vigilant.



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