Help! My credit score TANKED due to ridiculous situation

Help! My credit score TANKED due to ridiculous situation

Property Manager · Albany, OR · Member since 2016 · 58 posts · 23 votes

I need help!  My credit score has been near 800 for YEARS!!  in 2020 I had a baby, and during pregnancy I obviously had several doctors appointments.  One of those appointments, the billing was sent to my insurance (as they all are) and they took like 10 MONTHS to review this one particular claim, which they ended up denying.  So the bill was sent  back to doctors, then to me basically with a "This is already almost a year past due" type notice, even though my insurance company took so long to review the claim.  My score tanked like 150 points over a $1500 bad debt that was sent to collections right away once insurance denied it.  I took care of the debt immediately through the doctors office, NOT the collection agency.  I was thinking paying the balance immediately there might be a correction done to my credit report or something, but it's only come up about 10 points in 3 months!!!  We're currently in the process of applying for a loan for a 2nd home and I'm nervous my no longer stellar credit score is going to have a major impact (Husband's score is still amazing as far as I know).

Is there anything I can do to get my score up quickly?? Do I need to call the doctors office and ask them to remove the bad debt?  Do I fight directly with the credit reporting agency?  Am I totally screwed?  Should I not worry at all because it probably wont impact my ability to get a loan??

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Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
4y

I hope everyone reading this thread understands just how easily they can end up in the same situation, and it's just arrogance and hubris to believe you can't. @Rachel Payton, you've got to keep fighting this, and keep exploring options for applying for that loan. I wish I had better, more targeted advice for you.

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  • Joel B.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Happy Valley, OR · Member since 2020 · 52 posts · 35 votes
    4y

    Hi @Rachel Payton,

    I would suggest you dispute the item in your credit file on each of your three reports (Experian, Equifax, Transunion). That will remove it from your credit history and should get your credit score back up. You can certainly let the doctor's office know about the situation and that you are disputing it on your credit report. If they are good people, they will work with you on getting it cleaned up since it's obviously not your fault.

    You are not totally screwed, you are just fine. Take a deep breath and keep calm. You will be just fine when trying to get a loan. A simple letter of explanation will do the trick and you are good as gold.

    You're doing great. Blessings!

  • Realtor · Boulder, CO · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    4y

    @Rachel Payton I’d start by speaking to your lender about how much this will actually impact your rate/ ability to get the loan. It could be a non-issue. If it is an issue though, a similar situation happened to a client of mine recently and they hired a credit repair company to take care of it for them, so you might look into that.

  • Flipper / Buyer · Tacoma, WA · Member since 2013 · 160 posts · 80 votes
    4y

    Is The mark from the collection company or the Dr's office. It makes a difference. You definitely paid the Dr's office and not the collection right?

    The Dr's office can fix this. Sometimes they say they can't but they can.  

    Start there.   If you paid the collection company that will be an issue and a little more challenging. 

    Start with the Dr's office. Message me if that doesn't go well.  I can send u some forms. Or tell u some companies that are pretty good at removing these marks but its never a sure thing.

  • Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    4y

    I hope everyone reading this thread understands just how easily they can end up in the same situation, and it's just arrogance and hubris to believe you can't. @Rachel Payton, you've got to keep fighting this, and keep exploring options for applying for that loan. I wish I had better, more targeted advice for you.

  • Lender · Washington DC · Member since 2015 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    4y

    @Kevin Scott is correct the Doctor's office can delete it and recall the collection that they sent to the collection company to collect pennies on the dollar. The Doctor should have accepted what the insurance company pays as the usual line item cost for the procedure rather than charging you the retail price. Send letter to Dr today asking for a letter addressed to the collection company saying it was a mistake and to delete it from all tradelines and future reporting. You want a copy of the letter in seven days.  Send different letters to your insurance company as well disputing the mess - every state has a Dept of Insurance where you also should file a complaint. Three letters today, file the complaint online.

    @Joel B. Disputing it with the bureaus will NOT delete the item in fact it may duplicate the negative information and add your dispute as a tradeline. You would need to PROVE on paper that you paid the Doctor on time ten months ago which you cannot provide. Disputing with the credit cops is not a fix.

    Here is the other bit: mortgage reports are not supposed to reflect medical collections as balances against your debt to income ratio, and you can apply the federal law to erase the balances but not remove from the math of scoring. FCRA. Your consumer score might be totally different from a mortgage one.

  • Joel B.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Happy Valley, OR · Member since 2020 · 52 posts · 35 votes
    4y

    @Caroline Gerardo

    Thanks for the info on that. Good to know those details as I thought removing from the reports would be a positive thing. Much appreciated.

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