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Comment by nfriedly | Hacker News Reader

Bill collectors really aren't that bad if you know how to deal with them. I got sent to one once for a service I had canceled three times. The collector sent me a letter in the mail and then started calling every day at around 8 or 9 am.

I sent all of the calls to voicemail and I sent a letter to the collector (via certified mail with delivery receipt) that said "RE: account number XYZ; this bill is erroneous, do not contact me again." I haven't heard from them since.

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Mine was the opposite experience. It wasn't really the same situation as yours, so maybe this is totally irrelevant. But here's my story, just incase.

My health insurance denied my coverage for a Dr's appointment ("pre existing condition") a month or two after the appointment. I had moved by then, and apparently the mail didn't get forwarded or something. The dr's eventually turned me over to some California collection agency who then wrote letters to the same address, with the same result. They did leave an incoherent, mumbling voicemail once, which sounded like a telemarketer (hence I ignored it).

To my eternal horror, my credit score dropped from 762 to 630 in June. Over 130 points, over an $80 bill. This means I went from "higher score than 86% of Americans" to "higher than 24%".

It has utterly destroyed me. I have no credit anymore. I've been too scared to even apply for another credit card (I only have one), even though "you're supposed to every N years", for fear it would drop my score even further. I have a wife, and our credit prospects went from "could not be better" to "completely, utterly screwed. Good luck if your car dies. Also, good luck getting any kind of AT&T service, Internet service, etc etc when you move again."

They showed no remorse at my situation. The lady assigned to my case even directly hung up on me when I expressed annoyance about her not attempting to contact me more... Thoroughly... Before she decided to ruin my family's financial life. I immediately called back, which rang and rang until reaching her voicemail. I contacted her manager, who said that the lady assigned to me was the final authority on my case, and had not acted inappropriately by hanging up. Nor did they care that the mail hadn't reached me. The worst part was, I had the money the whole time. I would have paid.

Don't take bill collectors lightly. They'll break your family's financial knees over $80, as they did mine. (Edit, clarification: they will report your bill as "seriously past due 90 days / account in bad standing" or some such, which will destroy your score at all 3 of the credit bureaus; hence, the whole system will break your family's financial legs.)

Ouch - I would contact each of the credit bureaus and ask them to remove the claim. It was purely a communications error because, as you said, you're willing and able to pay the bill.

(I'm not sure who the "they" is, hopefully not the credit bureau :(

It... doesn't work like that. I wish it did. They literally do not care that it was a communications error. Under law, they sent the letters they were supposed to, and called me at least once. That's as far as their mercy extends.

It seems unlikely that the credit bureaus would listen to me over Cal Coast Credit (the collectors).

If you write the letters, and keep sending them, eventually they will fall off of your credit report. Once you ask a credit reporting agency to remove something, they have to contact the original creditor who then has a set period of time to respond, or the listing is removed.

Interesting.. Thank you. Would you mind pointing out where to get further info? What if they respond in time?

The phrases you're looking to google are: [credit report validation]

[codename47 site:fatwallet.com]

Also check out these: http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/how-to-fight-debt-coll... (note that this site is now owned by Quinstreet so caveat emptor) and http://www.creditboards.com

Thank you so very much!

I second creditboards.com. It can be difficult and demoralizing to find what you need on there, but it's worth it. I've got several collections removed from my own report, and I'll help anybody who asks.

Since you're dealing with a small valid debt -- the first thing to try is the Right Thing. Call the Dr's Office -- not the collections agency -- offer to pay if they will take the bill back from the collections agency. Whether they can do that depends on their arrangement, but for a small Dr's office they probably can. After that, you may need to contact the credit bureau's again, but it should go much better.

If that doesn't work, then you need a VALID complaint for the bureau's. Any discrepancy between the truth and what's on your report is worth trying. If the date is wrong, or the name of the company, anything. Keep trying.

This last part is my opinion, but I don't think you should EVER pay to the collections agency. They will not remove things from your report because you paid. If you ask, then they know they have you over a barrel, and will try to get more money out of you. Pay the original company.

EDIT: Another great weapon is local state law. Collection agencies have to abide by the law of their state, and the law of your state. I'm in Texas -- our laws are very strict on collectors. Your agency is in California -- I believe their laws are strict too.

Thank you too! How long did it take you to get your report fixed?

I haven't paid the collectors.. I've been so disgusted with the situation and their behavior.

Again, thank you so much for your time.

I had 15 or so collections (misspent youth, what can I say), it took me a year of off-and-on effort to clear them out. I had a very boring high-paying job, so I could take the time to do it right, and could afford to send out registered letters all the time.

FWIW there are companies that specialize in 'fixing' your credit, and resources on the web for same. With some work you can usually clean up a bad credit score over time.

excuse my ignorance, but what's a credit score and why does it matter? I can see it's a Bad Thing to have a low one, but in what way does it impact someone?

A credit score is maintained by a credit bureau, so potential lenders can check up on how "good" a potential borrower is before making a deal. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Credit_score So having a low one makes it difficult and expensive to get a loan or any kind of credit.

That's correct, but it's not quite that simple.

If my car dies, I won't be able to get anywhere, because I can't get a loan for a new one.

When we move to a new apartment, they won't allow us to have Internet service. I am not exaggerating in the slightest. AT&T U-Verse already denied me once in the past, before I got my score to 760 --- they refused me service. Completely. No alternatives. It didn't matter to them whether I had $10, $1,000, or $10,000 in the bank. The computer told them "unknown risk", and so they would not do business with me. There were no alternative internet providers. I would have been completely screwed, but my wife (who was my fiancée at the time, thankfully; credit score of one person will reflect on both of you after marriage) was approved.

We will not be able to get a house, if we choose to. We might not even be able to live in a specific area we want --- apartment complexes check your credit before allowing you to live there.

All over $80, due to the messed up health insurance system. Blergh.

and you've got no recourse? sheeesh! what a screwed up system

I sincerely hope you're able to get things sorted. Thanks for the explanation

I'm sorry, as this is rather off-topic, but are you by any chance unfamiliar with credit scores because they don't exist in Australia? If so, how do lending institutions gauge your credit-worthiness, and how do you set expectations about the same? I am just curious how this works outside of the US.

This is going to sound terribly naive, but I don't know what we have here in Aus. I've got a mortgage, car loan and credit card, but the process for getting them was relatively mundane. I know if you sign up for a phone plan they do a "credit check" but I don't know what it involves. I assume we have something, but I've never had cause to think about it before

I wish I could be terribly naive too... =) Aus sounds amazing!

non-US perspective:

In the Netherlands we have the "Burea of Credit Registration" which registers most debts, storing:

    - amount
    - start date
    - expected end date
    - actual end date
    - type of credit
    - miscellaneous notes

If payments are missed or other difficulties develop the lender can contact the Bureau, which notes this information on file. This information is stored for up to 5 years after final payment.

Note that this only tracks loans to individuals with a duration longer than 3 months and over a certain minimum amount.

The basic idea is that everyone who has not failed to repay a loan is considered creditworthy, actual loans are based on the above info, income (plus certainty of employment) and collateral.

Thanks, that sounds basically the same as the credit reporting agencies here in the US (except maybe the thing you're talking about is government-run?)

Well, my impression was that in the US you need to establish some kind of credit history to get a good credit score. Whereas here it is normal for people with no credit history to get loans and mortgages.

I know a guy, who was at a conference, and was told by a guy in banking that one of the credit scoring techniques for credit card applications was checking if the first and last letters of your family name are vowels.

The idea being that Nigerians usually have vowels on both ends of their family names.

Credit score or credit history is the way the US build trust in you as a customer.

Other places, like in Denmark for instance you are by default considered a trust-worthy customer and only if you start not paying your bills does it affect your ability to get a loan etc.

Another approach to take - there are lawyers/groups that specialize in getting these things removed. It will probably cost anywhere from $500-$1000 but they will harass every party involved until someone slips up and the bureaus are forced to remove the claim by law.

Depending on your situation it may be less expensive than what you would pay for a high-rate auto or home loan, etc.

I don't work for or know anyone that specializes in this but had a friend get 4 different claims removed over the course of a year this way.

We had very similar experience with medical bill (insurance didn't pay, we moved, years later found unpaid bill on our credit report).

Collector offered to pay and clean up the records.

After going through some doubts (what if collector lie about clean up?) we did pay and within weeks credit score returned back.

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