Illegal amount of interest on my credit report

[J Martel]

Recently I noticed that there is a company charging me an illegal amount of interest on my Experian credit report.

There are 2 accounts, both for emergency room visits, in 2010 and 2012, for portions of the bills that my insurance did not cover. Both times it was at the same hospital.

In June of this year, the I noticed debts were in collections, for the amounts $1,990 and $4,406 respectively. I checked again this month and they have increased to $3,137 and $6,074. Even if this was their annual increase, this is just absurd, as in California the legal amount of interest is about 5% I think.

The original amounts of these debts were for only $108 and $385.

Transunion shows a different company trying to collect these same debts and the amounts are much lower and much closer to the original amounts owed. The question is, how do I deal with this other company that is ruining my credit? Should I sue them if they don't agree to remove these illegal debts?

 

[army judge]

You can file a dispute with the credit agency.
The instructions for doing that are posted on credit bureaus websites.

Of course you're free to go directly to a lawsuit.
You must choose which option works best for you.

 

[adjusterjack]

It's not just interest. Collection agencies routinely add attorneys fees and other costs to the debt. They can't actually collect those fees and costs unless they get them included in a judgment. They do it to scare people into settling at a lower amount than shown but still a higher amount than the debt. It's a perfectly legal method of debt collection.

Your other post indicates you are in California where the statute of limitations for a lawsuit based on a written agreement is 4 years. You probably signed the patient payment guarantee forms both times. The older debt is certainly beyond the SOL and if the 2012 debt isn't, it will be soon and then all you'll need to do is wait until the debts drop off your credit reports, 2017 for the older one, 2019 for the newer one.

No sense spending money on a lawyer because you aren't likely to win a lawsuit if the entries are accurate based on the collection agencies accounts. You'll just have to weather a bad credit score for a couple of more years which would have been the same if the amounts were smaller. Unpaid debts are unpaid debts.

 

[J Martel]

You can file a dispute with the credit agency.
The instructions for doing that are posted on credit bureaus websites.

Of course you're free to go directly to a lawsuit.
You must choose which option works best for you.

Thanks Army Judge. I will contact an attorney tomorrow and see what they say about it. This company has at least 30 complaints with BBB so I won't waste my time dealing with them directly.

 

[J Martel]

It's not just interest. Collection agencies routinely add attorneys fees and other costs to the debt. They can't actually collect those fees and costs unless they get them included in a judgment. They do it to scare people into settling at a lower amount than shown but still a higher amount than the debt. It's a perfectly legal method of debt collection.

Your other post indicates you are in California where the statute of limitations for a lawsuit based on a written agreement is 4 years. You probably signed the patient payment guarantee forms both times. The older debt is certainly beyond the SOL and if the 2012 debt isn't, it will be soon and then all you'll need to do is wait until the debts drop off your credit reports, 2017 for the older one, 2019 for the newer one.

No sense spending money on a lawyer because you aren't likely to win a lawsuit if the entries are accurate based on the collection agencies accounts. You'll just have to weather a bad credit score for a couple of more years which would have been the same if the amounts were smaller. Unpaid debts are unpaid debts.

Thanks for the reply! And yes, I am in California.

But I am still wondering why are two different collection agencies trying to collect on the same debt? I'm certainly not paying both of them. I'd rather pay the agency showing the lesser amounts, which are much much closer to the original debts.

And once I do pay those, I would want to get the ones showing up on Experian removed.

 

[army judge]

Thanks for the reply! And yes, I am in California.

But I am still wondering why are two different collection agencies trying to collect on the same debt? I'm certainly not paying both of them. I'd rather pay the agency showing the lesser amounts, which are much much closer to the original debts.

And once I do pay those, I would want to get the ones showing up on Experian removed.

In my experience, one or both collection agencies could simply be trying to intimidate you into complying with their demands for tribute.

These thugs often buy uncollectable, or written off debt for 2¢ on the $1.00.

They then try to scam $200.00 even $2,000.00 on their $2.00 investment.

I call it legalized credit collection piracy.

Credit collectors scam whoever they can, for whatever they can extract from their bullied, intimidated targets!

In some cases, a chapter 7 BK is an immediate & effective credit pirate repellant.

 

[adjusterjack]

But I am still wondering why are two different collection agencies trying to collect on the same debt?

They might not be. Just because both are showing doesn't mean that they are both "trying to collect."

One may have bought the notes and, at some point, gave up and resold them to the second agency for pennies on the dollar.

 

[J Martel]

Thanks guys! This helps so much!

One other strange thing I noticed recently is that all of the dates associated with the items on my Experian report have advanced by one day. What used to be January 31st is now February 1st, etc. I'm going to call Experian today about this. I'll let you know what I find out.

 

[army judge]

There are many scams in the USA.
Credit bureaus, mortgages, and credit cards are the three most evil of ALL the scams, including Social inSecurity and Obama$Care!!!!