EasyBadCreditRepair.com

If your credit report has a debt collection on it, it lowers your score. The most damage will be done during the first two years that it is on your report, but it will linger there for 7 years total. And, due to some unscrupulous collectors, maybe longer. But, there are some steps you can take to remove debt collections from your credit report.

Is it Really Your Debt?

First of all, make sure it is really your debt. You can file a credit report dispute with the credit bureaus if it is not your debt. For instance, collectors are not allowed to list debt on your credit report if the debt is your spouse’s, unless your name is on the loan or credit card, too.

What if it Is Your Debt?

The debt collector who reported you to the credit bureau can’t legally collect from you, even if it is your debt. If the collector has made contact with you within the last 30 days, you can request a debt validation. This will be a notice, in writing, proving that the debt is really yours. You have 30 days from the first notice to send a written dispute. The collector cannot report his collection actions to the credit bureau until this is resolved. You can dispute all or part of the debt. You can also ask for the name of the original entity that you owed money to, because sometimes the collection agencies sell accounts to one another.  If the collector can’t prove that the debt is truly yours, or if he ignores your letter, he has to remove the claim from your credit report.

Dispute the Claim When Your Account is Sold

Collectors sell accounts back and forth, and some of them will try to keep the claim date current on your credit report. This is called “re-aging”. If you know a debt is over 7 years old, dispute it’s appearance on your report. These account sales take place about twice a year. So, if you’ve had a claim on your account for a while, it is probably far removed from the original creditor and collectors. You can often have these accounts removed from your credit report by disputing them with the credit bureau.

Negotiate

If you are trying to clean up your credit report and raise your credit score, it is possible to negotiate with creditors to have their claims removed from your credit report. Contact that creditor or collector and agree to pay the bill if they clear their claim from your report. If they agree, wait until you have the agreement in writing before you make a payment. When you send the payment, and any other communication, make sure to send it in certified mail, requesting a return receipt, so that you have proof of the correspondence. If the collector does not remove his claim after your payment, dispute it.

One really good way to handle these problems is to hire a credit repair company. They know how to spot questionable claims, and dispute them.

It could happen to anyone at any given time. A trip to the emergency ward can make you end up with a large bill as a result of your sickness. And after that the nightmare does not end. Most consumers find themselves caught in the middle of an old grudge between the medical establishment and health insurers. Some medical insurers are notorious for their slow payment habits. Many states are now requiring the medical insurers to pay up on undisputed claims within 45 days from receipt or they will face the consequences such as fines, interest and restitution. As a result the doctors turned to collection agencies for a solution to their dilemma.  Collection agencies will in turn hound you for payment to the point of harassment and threat of violence.

The process starts when your doctor submits your medical bill to your health care organization or insurance company. For whatever reason this insurance company makes a delayed payment or worse comes to worse denies the bill entirely. In the meantime, since you are so confident that your medical bill was already paid by your insurance company when you are asked to pay you simply refuse since you thought that it was already taken care of. Since you refuse to pay the bill your doctor will then turn this over to the collection agency since he cannot claim anything from your insurance company. The debt is then reported as delinquent a big negative mark down on your credit score.

Consumers will be surprised to see unpaid medical bills on their credit report. You have several options you can pay, dispute, explain or ignore it all together. If you decide to dispute it you need valid proof that it is an erroneous entry if your allegations were prove true the credit reporting service will delete the entry. If the reason for the mistake was non-payment by your medical insurer you have up to 100 words to explain this as a consumer statement which can be attached to your credit report.

Some consumer rights group are condemning this practice since they reason out that in the first place, the doctors should be the one to put a pressure on the medical insurance companies so that they won’t have to resort in getting the services of collection agencies since in the long run it is the consumer who is on the losing side here. A good idea is get a yearly copy of your credit report from the three major credit bureaus to see any incurred medical expenses.

Some regulations are recommended to improve the patient’s right and control abusive medical billings. Patients should be given full disclosure of their financing and financial assistance options.  The same discounts that insurance companies receive on medical bills should apply to consumers as well. Medical offices are advice to establish longer repayment periods with low interest rates. Restriction should be place regarding the selling of debt to collection agencies. Offer lower medical prices for low income patients.  Some states have already adopted some of the reforms that are suggested in these regulations.

One of the most common determinants of your credit score is you’re charged off. Are you worried over this? What is a credit card charge off?  Charge off is a term use for late payments on credit cards that are way past their due dates for almost 6 months ( about 180 days).  Since this greatly affects your credit score as an unpaid debt you need to find ways to resolve and settle your bad debts.  Debt settlement involves the repayment of your charge off debts and having this removed from your credit report in the credit bureaus.

For credit card issuers writing off your outstanding balance is beneficial to them since this can reduce their tax liabilities. To reduce their losses these credit issuers sell your outstanding debts and those of others to debt collectors for a fraction of its face value.  The debt collecting is now turned over to the debt collector (third party collector) who will pursue you relentlessly to recover their investment. Before this happens ask the bank in writing to suspend your late payments until you catch up, you can also inquire about hardship programs or if you have the money try to settle your debts for pennies on the dollar.  Hardship programs are not for individuals who overextended their credit limits but it is reserved for life changing events that are usually unavoidable like: loss of a job, divorce or long term illness and so on.

The charge off stays on your credit for seven years which can cause you future problems since when you are applying for home mortgage, car loan or looking for a job your credit report is checked and they will see this. Communicating with your creditor to know your balance owed is the best course of action. Mail this using registered mail so that you have a return receipt of this correspondence. The letter should contain your willingness to settle your debts. You will receive several settlement offers from your creditors.

Place in writing your debt settlement agreement and ask your creditors to remove this from your credit report before you can send them your payments (This is called as “Pay for Delete”).  Place a request to your creditor that they place “Paid as Agreed” on their list. If you don’t have a hard copy of your agreement it would be your word against theirs and the next collection agency will run after you after a few months and this is a much worst predicament since they will likely add a much higher interest to compensate for their collection. This is the real nightmare but who will want this if there are certain measures that you can take to avoid arriving at this scenario.

If you are being pursued because you are being fondly admired the feeling will be euphoric but if you are being followed or pursued by your creditors it is another story. Who can sue you? Creditors can sue you under the law. Creditors can be anyone like those that has to do with credit card companies, hospital, banks or other organization that has the legal basis of chasing after you because of debts that you owe them. In court they are called the plaintiff and you are the defendant.

If you are being sued by a creditor you will received summons to appear in court that may have something to do with an old credit card debt that you forget to pay years ago. Do not ignore the action. Their actions might be justified after all. The creditor will not go easy on you their goal is to sue and win. They may go for garnishment wherein your wages will be use to pay your debts as well as the legal fees and any loan interest. Before this gets out of hand try to settle with your creditors, most of them are happy to settle with you.

If you received a summons and complaint you must give your reply within the period stated in the summons. If the summons was handed to you by a process server this gives you 20 days to reply. If it was by other means then you have 30 days to post a reply. If you do not reply within the prescriptive time the creditor can ask the judge for a decision because of your absence (default judgment). The right way to reply to the summons is by raising your defenses and counterclaims. Defenses can include your general denial of the creditor’s claim.

If you think that you cannot handle all of this on your own you can find a lawyer for legal advice. Look for your original credit card contract. This is the long contract with fine print when you applied for your credit card application or loan for that matter. Some of the reasons to use in your defense are that you have paid the money that you owe but it was not properly reflected on your account.

You can also say that you do pay on time (if this is the truth). In case your creditor had made a wrong calculation of the amount that you owe you can use this in your defense. If your creditor tries to collect more than what you agreed to pay then you can use this in your favor. Although both sides have the right to trial the court can urge both parties to arrive at a settlement. If you think that this would serve you better then do settle.

For people who have declared bankruptcy a common misconception is that they will have to go to court where these creditors and a judge will embarrass them. The reality is that creditors rarely show up to attend the meeting with you. The court appointed trustee typically will ask you straightforward questions.

You must also understand the importance of a bankruptcy creditor index or matrix. This is an attachment to the bankruptcy petition. The index contains important information regarding each of the debtor’s individual creditors. A debtor must ensure that he has declared all the required information in the index.

The bankruptcy creditor index provides the court with the name and address of all of the debtor’s creditors. The index also includes the account number for all the balance that is due to each creditor. The bankruptcy court uses this information to notify all creditors of the bankruptcy and provides them a proof of claim form.  The index also gives an advice to the creditors of the exact time and location of the creditor’s meeting. This index form can be obtained from the clerk of the bankruptcy court.

A misconception is that this index allows you to leave some creditors off the list. Some people have an idea that they can directly deal with their creditor but such is against bankruptcy law. If you fail to prepare or file an accurate bankruptcy creditor index your case can be dismissed. The usual court decision requires the debtor to correct his deficiencies.

Another question that may concern a debtor is whether a garnishment on his wages initiated by a creditor is lawful. The truth is that different states have different laws whether a creditor is allowed or not to garnish your wages. Each state has their own laws on which property is protected from creditors and which properties can be seized by creditors. A few states do not allow wage garnishment but even those states who allow wage garnishment sets a limit on what they can take from a person’s wage since they need to allow the person to have something to live on with. Better check the law on your states regarding wage garnishments so that you will know whether this can be use against you by your creditors or not. There are ways of avoiding wage garnishments like when you file for bankruptcy. Filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy will stop a wage garnishment in progress and cancels them out provided that the court allows the debts to be discharged.

Another common creditor misconception is that they are after your house or car. This is far from the truth. Your creditors do not want to deal with the hassle of collections so they’d rather collect your money than to grab your car or house.

If you have arrived with a compromise agreement do follow through with it. Keep your word of honor when you say that you will pay them $100 a month then do so. If you are consistent with your payment your creditors will see your sincerity in settling your debts so they will not breathe in your neck as often as they once did.