It's a long one, don't bother reading

[Shay]

Today, and the days to come, officially smurf blow. My morning was supposed to be spent working on the NELG script. Instead, I had the "pleasure" of dealing with my credit report all smurf morning since the moment I got off work.

Sean and I are required to show proof of renters insurance the day we receive the keys to the new house which is tomorrow morning around 9:30 AM. I finally got in touch with my insurance agent today who ran some quotes for me yesterday. It was supposed to come to $139 for the entire year, which I had every intentions of paying in full now so I didn't have to worry about it. He then calls back this morning, stating that when my credit report ran, my credit score increased and my yearly premium went up to $216. This left me quite puzzled as I have not had any issues with money since 2010.

Thankfully, I was able to get a free copy of my credit report as I was recently denied a credit card for my favorite clothing store, Maurice's, a little less than 60 days go. Here was my shocking discovery...

On the morning of December 31st, 2006, I ended up in the emergency room as I had a severe initial outbreak. I was in excruciating pain. At the time, it was the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. I received many doctor bills, all of which I struggled to pay being that I worked minimum wage part time. Because I was not a single mom, currently pregnant, nor going to school, I did not qualify for assistance. However, I worked as much as I could, even doing side jobs for Sean's family for about $60 a week to try and pay off my medical bills.

In the Summer of 2007, I received a free copy of my credit report from Wells Fargo when I was denied their student credit card to try and rack up credit for gas. At that time I learned that Lincoln Emergency Medical sent me to collects for a $272 bill I never received. I also read where I could dispute the credit if I was not properly notified of such credit, felt it was incorrect or inaccurate in any way. I immediately sent the collection agency a hand written letter with my contact information and my reason for dispute being that I have not once seen this bill and nobody has tried to contact me by phone, email, nor postal mail. I heard nothing back, but eventually noticed the credit was no longer listed on my report and assumed everything was taken care of.

Five years later, after my insurance premiums have suddenly gone up do to my credit report, I have found this credit be listed on my report yet again by the same creditors. I am pissed. I was so angry this morning I friggin' cried. Everything about this listing is incredibly shady.

Date Reported: 03/2012
Date Assigned: 06/2007
Original Amount Owned: $272
Date of 1 st Delinquency: 12/2006
Comments: Consumer disputes this account information, Medical

Let me explain all the issues with this. First off, the date of first delinquency. The first delinquency is the due date at which I did not pay. How the hell can my date of first delinquency be December 2006 when I was in the hospital on December 31st, 2006? I was not required to pay the bills up front, and in fact, couldn't in no way, shape, or form. The next issue I have with this is the date assigned. I don't have issues with the fact that it was assigned at this time, but the fact that I was NOT INFORMED. At no point did the hospital or the collectors try to contact me. I have had the same phone number since Fall of 2006. Nobody has tried to contact my aunt who is listed as my alternate contact for any such issues. I have always put in change of address forms so my address is on file with postal service. I have also been to the emergency room many times since then and again have never been informed. I have had other bills go to collections and those collection agencies made it a point to contact me all the time and make sure we were on the same page to get the payments taken care of before they affected my credit negatively. So why on earth have I never received any type of correspondence from either the hospital or the collection agency?

Next, the comments section. I did not own a scanner at the time and was not smart enough to make a copy of my hand-written letter to the agency to dispute the charges. However, they clearly have it listed on file that I dispute the information. I spent my morning looking up and familiarizing myself with The Fair Credit Reporting Act. By Federal law, the agency is required to conduct a 30-day investigation up to 5 days after receiving notice of consumer dispute with a maximum extension of 15 days. Furthermore, they must correspond with the consumer with notice of the dispute received, investigation conducted, results of said investigation, and notice of removal, update, or no changes to charges (and among other things). At no point did I ever receive any of this, and yet they have it on file that I disputed the information. Not only that, but I received a free copy of my credit report in May 2010 and the listing was not there. In fact, my insurance premiums actually went down some time in 2009 or 2010 because of my credit report and my driving record.

Which leads me to my final issue, the date reported: March 2012. Someone PLEASE explain to me why on earth this is just now showing back up on my credit report FIVE YEARS later. According to everything I spent hours reading in the Fair Credit Reporting Act, there is nothing legally that allows this without notification. And actually, if something has been removed due to a dispute that was determined inaccurate or what have you, it can not be resubmitted onto the credit report. It is forever void.

So now I get to spend the next several months fighting to get my credit report turned around. And of course, the agency no longer has a listed phone number. The number they used to own has been shut off and they now only allow inquiries through mail or online forms. They promised me a response back within 48 hours. If I do not hear anything by phone or email, I will be placing a formal complaint with Federal Trade Commission and further investigation of this invalid credit.

[Wesley]

Holy balls.

Most times you can contact the credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, the other one.... Trans-Union?) and have errant items removed from your credit report. My brother and my ex-sister-in-law have done it on more than one occasion.

This does indeed eat the big one, but stay cool, you will come out on top.

[bella]

Seems like there's a bunch of people who don't know what their colleagues are doing.
If you have a copy of your credit report from May 2010 and the listing was not there you have proof that they took it off your record. How can they put it on again now?
Inform yourself if you have to prove that they are wrong or if this is their duty.
If they still act like that, sue them. Or at least threaten to sue them to make them move.
Douchebags.

[Shay]

Unfortunately, I forgot to mention that I was still young and dumb in May 2010 and did not keep a copy of it. This time I have made it a point to save four copies, one on my computer and one on each of my external storage devices. But even without having the proof of that one report, I still have the sheer and simple fact that I have never been notified and it proves in that report right there that I disputed the charges and clearly a proper investigation was not conducted in the length of time if it is now showing as a reported date 3/2012 when it was assigned 6/2007. Five years is far more than the maximum 45 days they are allotted for said dispute, which automatically rules in my favor.

Holy run-on sentence...

[Wesley]

Yup. Call Equifax and those other guys and I am sure you can get it taken care of.

[Shay]

So, I just want to thank you guys for letting me blow off some steam, and especially actually reading that. I didn't used to be this way, but I am totally guilty of not reading super long posts. Because of this event today and courtesy you guys showed to actually listen to my ramblings, I will make it a point not to ignore long posts going forward. That probably sounds dumb, but it really does mean a lot to me because this has truly got me fired up like I haven't been in a really, really long time. Sean makes me mad at times. So does work. So do really petty things. But when you mess with my money and the driving force behind any major life decision, especially when I have done nothing but work my bottom off to avoid such situations, it really...really gets to me.

[bella]

What makes you angry is feeling helpless at some point. You are not, you have proof, they did wrong and you have all right to let off some steam. It's even good that you do it here and not on the phone when trying to call them. Staying calm might solve your problem with them quicker.
You can still yell at them if they keep on acting like this.

[chex]

I have no experience in this area, but it looks like you've already been given good advice anyway. I have hugs though!

[LaLou]

Oh yes, hugs.
And what Bella and Zot said.

[Eff]

What Haagen Dazs and chexy zot and lalou said.