Another Credit Nightmare!
Article Contributed by Denise
Richardson
BEWARE... due to amendments to the FCRA (FACTA) that will be implemented by
the end of the year or so, we will no longer have our constitutional right of
access to the courts! No, the states won't either! It seems that they have
slipped that into what they tout as a stronger FCRA which affords us a free
credit report every year and mandates that they must do more in depth
investigations (yeah, right) and "allows" us the right to dispute with the
furnisher as opposed to just the cra's. Those of us that have been through all
this before know that we have always gone above and beyond what we were mandated
to do for protection under the FCRA and disputed with the furnisher anyway. It
never did any good and still will not work!
But now it seems that because they have placed what they call
"stricter standards" for investigating disputes on furnishers, We can't hold
either the furnisher or the cra's accountable through the courts! Yes,
that's right, any inaction on their part is unenforceable by private
actions brought by consumers and preempted from state regulation.
So, what recourse are we left with? If the
Government is so concerned with Identity Theft
growing at such an alarming rate, why would they take
away our right to stop the abuse and the detrimental effects it has when
these corporations won't correct their errors. Basically, the free credit
report yearly is just their way of saying to us, here, review and let us know
if there are inaccuracies. It is doing their work as an unpaid
employee!
It has never been a question of the "monetary damages" we lose
through identity theft directly as the creditors pay for that but rather the
more devastating effects of what it does to us having inaccurate
information damaging our credit reputation and humiliating us everywhere we
turn. Not to mention the anxiety and frustration we deal with trying to
correct their errors. This new FACTA amendment barring us from access to the
courts is unconstitutional and we should fight to overturn it. Most of you
all know what I have been through trying to hold them accountable for
inaccurate information which landed us in Federal Court ( if not just type in
Denise Richardson credit reports into any browser and you'll see). Now, I
find myself once again in the agonizing clutches of being at their mercy
yet again with inaccurate information ruining my credit. Here is the
latest unbelievable condensed version of my latest nightmare.......
In
June 2001, 4 years ago....I had an allergic reaction to an antibiotic. I went
to the emergency room which covered my expenses through Blue Cross
Blue Shield. I had just moved to Florida and wasn't insured to make a
doctor's office visit then, but I was insured to go to the ER. A couple of
months later, I received a notice from the hospital that Blue Cross rejected
the portion of the bill that covered the physician seeing me. I
immediately called BC and found that the hospital had coded the bill wrong
and had inadvertently billed it as a doctor office visit. We did a three way
party call and while I was on the line BC explained this to the hospital and
told them they would pay it if they re-submitted correctly and BC provided
them a confirmation number to place on their new submission form. Several
months later I received a call from a collection company for this same
bill.
I again contacted BC. Their records indicated that the hospital
never re-submitted and BC called them on the phone with me on the line.
The collection company, IMBS, said not to worry that they had not and would
not report this to the cra's. BC waived their normal policy of not paying due
to the length of time it took them to submit the bill and gave them
a confirmation number that it would be paid and said they would just send
out the check.
They did send out the check and I received notice that
they had. Once again believing all was well again....just last year, another
call from yet another collection agency. This time they were called NCO.
Again, I contacted BC and after much time and effort on both our parts got
NCO to accept BC's explanation and proof the check had been sent out directly
to the physician that was on the bill they received. Again, assurances
that this was not reported to the cra's. After doing some research BC found
that the check they sent out had not been cashed. BC made numerous calls and
even contacted the physician where the check was sent. Upon finding out the
check was never cashed BC supervisor said they would stop payment on it and
send out another check. They did so and it was finally cashed.
In
2003, out of the blue I got a call from a company called Gold Key saying they
were the collection company trying to collect this $220.00 medical bill.
Totally frustrated I went into the whole explanation and yet again got BC on
the phone with us. During that conversation the woman at Gold Key
was extremely rude to both BC and myself so BC said they would make calls
and call me back. Stating "Denise, I will make this my mission to get
corrected after everything documented shows what we have been through". When
they called me back the BC representative told me they had never dealt with
such rude people and that they would not put her on with a supervisor
or management but rather gave her a fax number. She faxed them a letter
with proof that the check was cashed and that this should never have been
in their hands to begin with.
Thinking this was all taken care of 4
years later, it has now just been placed on my credit report as delinquent
collection of $220.. Past due. I immediately faxed 14 pages of documents to
both the collection company and the cra to dispute this being on my credit in
the first place. After disputing it I received my results of the first
investigation..I read in horror as it stated they have verified it to be
accurate!
So I contacted BC, and Gold Key and after three hours of
dealing with them and BC going above and beyond faxing them all the information
they wanted they assured me they would take care of it and report it to the cra
as error. Of course, not trusting them I re-disputed with the CRA and re-faxed
all the pertinent information to where they requested and yesterday, I finally
got the results of their SECOND so called investigation back...."verified as
accurate with the creditor". There was not even a mention that it was paid nor
was there any information placed on my credit report that this is in dispute! So
much for in depth investigations or taking the consumers authentic documents as
proof!