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Thread: Credit question

  1. #1
    God/dess greenidlady1's Avatar
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    Default Credit question

    Do unpaid Doctor's bills go against your credit? I use to work for a hospital and they charged me for a couple of ER visits. I think if I work for a hospital than I shouldn't have to pay to go there, except for cost, my opinion.

    Also if you pay something off that is on your credit report will it improve your credit or will it still be against it?

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    God/dess montythegeek's Avatar
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    Default Re: Credit question

    As far as I know (and it is not too far) any unpaid bill stays on the record for a long time unless resolved.

    The exception would be I think if the bill is disputed but I do not know the rules for disputing a bill. That probably varies by state.

    PS Why do you have a green Id? hehehe
    Last edited by montythegeek; 09-22-2005 at 05:09 PM.

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    God/dess greenidlady1's Avatar
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    Default Re: Credit question

    I like money, lol.

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    God/dess VenusGoddess's Avatar
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    Default Re: Credit question

    If the hospital sends you to collections, it'll show up on your credit.

    Don't ever pay off any collection/late debt without getting a letter IN WRITING, and signed by a manager, that they will remove all negative remarks/reports from your credit report. Most credit agencies would rather do that then not get their money.

    Otherwise, paying off debt that is reflecting bad reports doesn't really help your credit. It will show that it was paid, but that it was 180 days late...which doesn't really help you all that much.

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    God/dess greenidlady1's Avatar
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    Default Re: Credit question

    Thanks so much Venus.

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    Featured Member Lilith's Avatar
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    Default Re: Credit question

    Quote Originally Posted by greenidlady1
    Do unpaid Doctor's bills go against your credit?
    Only if they report it to the credit bureau. It is discounted for home loan scoring.

    Also if you pay something off that is on your credit report will it improve your credit or will it still be against it?
    Either/or/both/it depends. There is no difference, score wise, between a paid collection and an unpaid collection; both are bad marks on your credit and paying it won't make the bad mark go away. Doing as Venus suggested and offering payment for deletion, in writing, is the only way to make the bad mark stop affecting your score negatively. A pay-for-delete can hurt your score as well, however, if it was an old collection. FICO scoring models average age of all accounts. Dropping any old account when you don't have lots of old accounts to take up the difference will shorten your file's average age, which will drop your score.

    As far as I know (and it is not too far) any unpaid bill stays on the record for a long time unless resolved.
    Seven years, six months at maximum - except for judgements.

    The exception would be I think if the bill is disputed but I do not know the rules for disputing a bill. That probably varies by state.
    It's regulated by federal law, though the circuit courts have been known to interpet things on a wide scale. Specifically in regards to disputing, you lose rights in California by failure to dispute timely but this doesn't happen outside of that circuit court's jurisdiction.

    To dispute a bill you send a dispute letter. "Pursuant to your initial contact on <insert date>, I hereby dispute this debt in its entirety and request validation of the status, legal character and amount of this alleged debt, including your right to collect on it." Send it certified mail, return reciept requested. That stops the clock on collection the moment they receive it. They may not report it to a credit bureau if they have not already done so, or apply interest or fees or do anything that can be construed as collection activity (other than sue you). The account must be noted as "in dispute". Collection activity may not recommence until they have validated the debt to the consumer; also, they may not leave the debt hanging in "perpetual" dispute.
    He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

  7. #7
    God/dess VenusGoddess's Avatar
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    Default Re: Credit question

    Quote Originally Posted by Lilith
    Either/or/both/it depends. There is no difference, score wise, between a paid collection and an unpaid collection; both are bad marks on your credit and paying it won't make the bad mark go away. Doing as Venus suggested and offering payment for deletion, in writing, is the only way to make the bad mark stop affecting your score negatively. A pay-for-delete can hurt your score as well, however, if it was an old collection. FICO scoring models average age of all accounts. Dropping any old account when you don't have lots of old accounts to take up the difference will shorten your file's average age, which will drop your score.
    This is sort of true. However, one of the reasons you want to pay to delete is to get all negative credit off of your file. The other reason is to get the debt paid. As each negative file can remain on your credit for 7-10 years (depending on what kind of negative it is)...that goes for each NEW creditor. If your doctor's office's credit collection agency packages up your file and sells it to another collection agency, you will have ANOTHER negative mark on your credit that will have 7 years to fall off...and so on and so forth. I have seen credit reports that have as many as 8-10 different negative marks from different agencies...for the same unpaid bill. It is in your best interest to get that negative off your credit (even if your score drops) than to leave any unpaid balance out there with negative credit. Lenders are more willing to work with someone who has a short, but positive, credit history, than one who has a long but negative one.

    To dispute a bill you send a dispute letter. "Pursuant to your initial contact on <insert date>, I hereby dispute this debt in its entirety and request validation of the status, legal character and amount of this alleged debt, including your right to collect on it." Send it certified mail, return reciept requested. That stops the clock on collection the moment they receive it. They may not report it to a credit bureau if they have not already done so, or apply interest or fees or do anything that can be construed as collection activity (other than sue you). The account must be noted as "in dispute". Collection activity may not recommence until they have validated the debt to the consumer; also, they may not leave the debt hanging in "perpetual" dispute.
    Just to add on here: Keep a copy of the letter and keep the signed certified mail receipt. The reason is because once the creditor receives the letter, they have 30 days in which to provide proof of validity. If they do not, you send a letter stating that to the credit bureau (with copies of the letter and signed receipt) the creditor failed to provide proof of validity on the account. At that point, the credit bureau, BY LAW, must delete that information from your credit report. You should send copies to every credit reporting agency.

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    Featured Member scorpio's Avatar
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    Default Re: Credit question

    unpaid medical bills and collections will certainly stay on your report for 7 years, and will definately impact your credit score. The good thing is, that most lenders do not count medical bills because they know that insurance companies regularly screw patients.

    It is best to pay ogff or pay down to 30% balance to high credit on all revolving tradelines. This will increase your score.

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    Default Re: Credit question

    Depending on how old the deliquency is and how much you may be able to settle a lees amount to be paid. Of course you want to take the advice as listed above to get it in writting and agreed it will be REMOVED from your credit instead of showing as settled or charge off paid.

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    Default Re: Credit question

    Okay, forget I'm Australian as I can see my situation (or similiar) can easily be from an American.

    I have a $300 mark (unpaid telephone bill from when I was unemployed) that supposedly will expire mid-2006.

    If someone has just one mark on their credit history/report that is due to expire next year ... should they bother to pay it off and get a letter IN WRITING for its deletion (as per previous posts have said to do in re: overdue bills) or just wait til the expiry date comes?


    enter: E3167322D9 for your 10% discount

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    Member Poppy Corn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Credit question

    greenidlady, I've been there, too. I had over 7K in bills from a hospital go to collection because I thought I wasn't personally responsible for the bills. My parents had a divorce agreement that they would splite medical bills for me, as a full-time student, until I was 24. The insurance company was also at fault, and I could sue for defamation of character w/ all the filing I did w/ them. The co. paid 4K of it after collection, but the rest sat there until last yr when I paid it from dancing earnings. The 4K is listed on my report permanently, regardless of lawsuit, as part of the orignal amount that went to collection.

    It shows up on your credit report under the code MED1 by TransUnion, and it depends on the state who else can also see that code. TransUnion also lists the date the item will be removed, which is 6-8 yrs regardless of payment. It's 6 yrs for the smaller items (under $100).

    Equifax lists both the collection agency and the original creditor, so it is clear that it was medical debt. They will remove the item 6mos. - 3yrs after payment, or 10 years after hitting collection.

    Experian lists the original creditor in bold, but I don't know when they remove items, because I'm still disputing with them. It is possible that it's 6mos- 3 yrs after payment, becuase they don't list the items the bureau itself reported paid, but it may just be these items were never reported in the first place.

    Basically, if you have the money, and it's under 8 yrs, you're going to want any loan, pay it. Paying collection debt significantly increases your score (50-75pts) immediately, and even more so in the long run. Save your receipts! A lot of credit bureaus do not report to all the agencies, and they do not share info. You will most likely have to dispute error once it's all paid.

    I had to write a letter to my landlord explaining why I had adverse credit, and it would not hurt my ability to pay him. For student loans I was rejected regardless of it being medical, and I'd imagine the same is for getting a home. I was lucky to have gotten my credit cards before all this started (I locked in at a low apr), but in trying to get a card at 0% apr they offered me one at 20% w/ an anual fee for "credit repair". I needed a cosigner to lower the financing on my car loan.

    Everyone just looks at your credit score, and do not care if it's medical. My mom was under the same impression that medical debt on your report is not a big deal. Sorry my post was so long, but I thought it'd really help you to know how the major agencies act individually. When applying for a loan, you might care who they're obtaining their information from since your score will be best w/ one of the agencies. Some, but not most, may even allow you to bring your own recent report.

    Btw, I later learned that if the hospital does not charge interest on late payments (which mine didn't) I could have made payment on each account at just $10-$20 a month to keep it from hitting collection in the first place. Making any timely payments, regardless of how small, makes it so the hospital is not allowed to send it to the agency - at least that was my experience in NY.
    Last edited by Poppy Corn; 10-12-2005 at 01:49 PM.

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    Member Poppy Corn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Credit question

    Quote Originally Posted by Lilith

    Either/or/both/it depends. There is no difference, score wise, between a paid collection and an unpaid collection; both are bad marks on your credit and paying it won't make the bad mark go away. Doing as Venus suggested and offering payment for deletion, [i
    in writing[/i], is the only way to make the bad mark stop affecting your score negatively. A pay-for-delete can hurt your score as well, however, if it was an old collection. FICO scoring models average age of all accounts. Dropping any old account when you don't have lots of old accounts to take up the difference will shorten your file's average age, which will drop your score.
    This is not true. It is true that closing an adverse credit card account without having others will hurt your score if it is under 7yrs old and you do not have other accounts in good standing w/ age. Paying the collection debt will always increase your score, but if the debt is already 8 yrs old it may not be the best choice. An old collection debt will be removed, regardless of payment. It will not lower your score because it is removal of an adverse account. Adverse accounts are listed first on your report and will hurt you most when they are from public collection.

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