I received a notice that my credit report had changed.  I logged on to look at my credit report and noted a $500 charge off had occured.  This dropped my score almost 100 points and out of an excellent credit score.  I had no idea what this was for as I always pay bills on time and have great credit.

I called up the agency and they told me to contact some dentist.  I called the dentist and they stated there were open bills from 1999 that I had not paid, I said I did not know who they were.  The receptionist said I had been put down as head of household for some family.  I said "head of household?!  I was 19 years old and living in California."  She faxed me a copy of the charges.  The charges are for crowns, and cleanings, and molds, and stuff I have never had done.  I called her back and stated as much.  Even when I went in and talked to them,  they would not believe me.  They said they tried running the charges through "my" health insurance but the charges were rejected.  Once again I said "I was in college in 1999, I was 19 and living in California and under my parents health insurance."

They will not believe me and wont take the charges off my credit report.

And get this, the kids on the bill who were worked on, their last names arent even mine.

What can I do?  Isnt there something about putting bills that are not yours in the fair credit and reporting act?  This office is all paperwork, they dont use computers.  I honestly believe there was a mix up, I jut cant get over how these people on the bill arent even the same name as mine yet they say I am repsonsible.


**UPDATE**

I disputed the charge with the credit bureaus, typed up the provided letter, and sent that to the credit agency and the dentists office.  I went in to speak with the AR lady at the dentists office and she simply said "just pay the bill and we will take it off your credit report."  I replied "oh its coming of my credit report, I already disputed the charge and you have 30 days to prove that the bill is mine which you cannot."  So she dug in her records a little deeper.

And then it turns out that I did owe money from when I was 19, I owed $72 that never got paid by the insurance company.  They had a signed authorization from me saying I would pay for the charges etc.  it was my signature.  Somehow the names and amounts got mixxed up in their manual record keeping system.  I talked with her about this saying I dont mind paying the bill if you take the charge of my report, because at this point I know she has every legal right to keep it on, at least the $72 portion.  She was nice and agrred to take it off if I paid the $72.  She wrote up a letter stating they would take the full charge off if I paid the $72.  She signed the letter and I paid.  Yes its $72 but I care more about my credit score then anything else.

Today I received notification that the write off was removed from my report.  Looks like they either one took it off or two could not prove it was my charge and had to take it off.

So in the end, they put a $500 charge of on my credit report which is the first thing I saw, then tried to collect the $500 from me when it should have been $72, and then completely took it off.

Thanks for the help everyone.  I still feel like I got screwed by my credit score is fixed.  If I owed them money I owed them money, regardless of whose dependent I was or what my financial situationw as like at the time.

Um... fraud complaint with the FTC?

Dispute it with the credit bureau, and file for the magical $1000 from the asshat dentist's office.  When they have to cut a check to you for a grand for unsubstantiated collection activity, maybe they won't be such cocksuckers.

Quoted: Dispute it with the credit bureau, and file for the magical $1000 from the asshat dentist's office.  When they have to cut a check to you for a grand for unsubstantiated collection activity, maybe they won't be such cocksuckers.

+1

Step one is to Dispute the the claim

sample letter

To Whom It May Concern: This letter is being sent to you in response to a notice sent to me on (Date) or in response to a listing on my credit report (Choose Which Sentence Best Represents Your Situation). Be advised that this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (cool.gif that your claim is disputed and validation is requested. This is NOT a request for “verification” or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the above named Title and Section. I respectfully request that your offices provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you. At this time I will also inform you that if your offices have reported invalidated information to any of the 3 major Credit Bureau’s (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion) this action might constitute fraud under both Federal and State Laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found on any of my credit reports by your company or the company that you represent I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you and your client for the following: · Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act · Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act · Defamation of Character If your offices are able to provide the proper documentation as requested in the following Declaration, I will require at least 30 days to investigate this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist. Also during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, I will consult with my legal counsel for suit. This includes any listing any information to a credit reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated. If your offices fail to respond to this validation request within 30 days from the date of your receipt, all references to this account must be deleted and completely removed from my credit file and a copy of such deletion request shall be sent to me immediately. (OPTIONAL CEASE & DESIST) I would also like to request, in writing, that no further telephone contact be made by your offices to my home or to my place of employment. If your offices continue to attempt telephone communication with me it will be considered harassment and I will have no choice but to file suit. All future communications with me MUST be done in writing and sent to the address noted in this letter. It would be advisable that you and your client assure that your records are in order before I am forced to take legal action.. Best Regards Your Name

Tag for subsequent info.

taggage.  Try www.clarkhoward.com for more info about disputing charges.

Quoted: Tag for subsequent info.

Me too

tag so i can copy phil's letter tomorrow, great writing.

Quoted: Quoted: Dispute it with the credit bureau, and file for the magical $1000 from the asshat dentist's office.  When they have to cut a check to you for a grand for unsubstantiated collection activity, maybe they won't be such cocksuckers. +1 Step one is to Dispute the the claim sample letter To Whom It May Concern: This letter is being sent to you in response to a notice sent to me on (Date) or in response to a listing on my credit report (Choose Which Sentence Best Represents Your Situation). Be advised that this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (cool.gif that your claim is disputed and validation is requested. This is NOT a request for “verification” or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the above named Title and Section. I respectfully request that your offices provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you. At this time I will also inform you that if your offices have reported invalidated information to any of the 3 major Credit Bureau’s (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion) this action might constitute fraud under both Federal and State Laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found on any of my credit reports by your company or the company that you represent I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you and your client for the following: · Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act · Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act · Defamation of Character If your offices are able to provide the proper documentation as requested in the following Declaration, I will require at least 30 days to investigate this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist. Also during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, I will consult with my legal counsel for suit. This includes any listing any information to a credit reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated. If your offices fail to respond to this validation request within 30 days from the date of your receipt, all references to this account must be deleted and completely removed from my credit file and a copy of such deletion request shall be sent to me immediately. (OPTIONAL CEASE & DESIST) I would also like to request, in writing, that no further telephone contact be made by your offices to my home or to my place of employment. If your offices continue to attempt telephone communication with me it will be considered harassment and I will have no choice but to file suit. All future communications with me MUST be done in writing and sent to the address noted in this letter. It would be advisable that you and your client assure that your records are in order before I am forced to take legal action.. Best Regards Your Name

Thank you for the letter.  I am printing out two copies and sending one to the credit agency and one to the dentist.

They will not believe me and wont take the charges off my credit report.

Good luck.  We work with several doctors offices, and they don't really give a damn about mistakes when reporting to credit reports or to collection agencies.  Just be glad they haven't hired a collection agency to try to collect the money.  I don't know how it is in AZ, but two of the agencies doctors and the local hospital use here are very nasty.z

Quoted: They will not believe me and wont take the charges off my credit report. Good luck.  We work with several doctors offices, and they don't really give a damn about mistakes when reporting to credit reports or to collection agencies.  Just be glad they haven't hired a collection agency to try to collect the money.  I don't know how it is in AZ, but two of the agencies doctors and the local hospital use here are very nasty.z

They did though.

The collection company is the company named on the credit report.  I called them first.  Then the collection company told me who was trying to collect the money, thats how I got the dentists name.

Now I am worried that even if they do take this off my credit report, my score will not go back to where it should.

Be sure to notify Equifax, Experian and TransUnion of the dispute and resulting action.

update?

tag.

Keep us posted- good luck.

Quoted: Quoted: Dispute it with the credit bureau, and file for the magical $1000 from the asshat dentist's office.  When they have to cut a check to you for a grand for unsubstantiated collection activity, maybe they won't be such cocksuckers. +1 Step one is to Dispute the the claim sample letter To Whom It May Concern: This letter is being sent to you in response to a notice sent to me on (Date) or in response to a listing on my credit report (Choose Which Sentence Best Represents Your Situation). Be advised that this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (cool.gif that your claim is disputed and validation is requested. This is NOT a request for “verification” or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the above named Title and Section. I respectfully request that your offices provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you. At this time I will also inform you that if your offices have reported invalidated information to any of the 3 major Credit Bureau’s (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion) this action might constitute fraud under both Federal and State Laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found on any of my credit reports by your company or the company that you represent I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you and your client for the following: · Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act · Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act · Defamation of Character If your offices are able to provide the proper documentation as requested in the following Declaration, I will require at least 30 days to investigate this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist. Also during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, I will consult with my legal counsel for suit. This includes any listing any information to a credit reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated. If your offices fail to respond to this validation request within 30 days from the date of your receipt, all references to this account must be deleted and completely removed from my credit file and a copy of such deletion request shall be sent to me immediately. (OPTIONAL CEASE & DESIST) I would also like to request, in writing, that no further telephone contact be made by your offices to my home or to my place of employment. If your offices continue to attempt telephone communication with me it will be considered harassment and I will have no choice but to file suit. All future communications with me MUST be done in writing and sent to the address noted in this letter. It would be advisable that you and your client assure that your records are in order before I am forced to take legal action.. Best Regards Your Name

tag in the event I should ever need...Thanks Phil!

Quoted: update?

As I posted this last night, I dont have much of an update.  Only that I disputed the charge with Experian, the one credit reporting agency I subscribe to.

Letters will be sent out tomorrow.

Issue has been resolved, thanks everyone.

I updated the orginal post.

Did you get credit reports from Equifax and TransUnion as well? If not you need to.

Quoted: Did you get credit reports from Equifax and TransUnion as well? If not you need to.

Do I need to do this because the charge could still be on the other reports as well?

Quoted: Quoted: Did you get credit reports from Equifax and TransUnion as well? If not you need to. Do I need to do this because the charge could still be on the other reports as well?

Absolutely!

You can get free credit reports here, This is not a scam site.

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp