Unfair credit practices of CMRE Financial Services, Inc.

[infopractical]

This is the first post I've made public in a while, and I'm doing so because I want to publicly shame everyone involved.

Just over two years ago, I was treated in the emergency room at Grossmont Hospital. I received several bills for my treatment, and paid them all within a few weeks, in a pretty normal way.

Last month, I received a call from

Comments

[boywithstick]

I will echo a couple of points that have already been raised. . . First, do not just send them full payment without getting something in writing stating that the charge will be removed from your credit report. I had a similar situation several years ago with Sprint. I was checking my credit report and found a collection I didn't recognize. I called the collection agency and they told me it was a final bill for long distance that I had in college. I had never received any bill and thought I had paid everything years ago, so I took their word for it and offered to pay in full if they would just remove the offending collection from my credit report. The rep agreed to do so and I paid them. In 60 days I checked my credit again only to find that they had only updated the account as "Paid" which reset the clock for it to roll off of my credit report. Not only did paying not get it removed, but it actually lowered my credit for 3 years because the collection was marked on the report from 3 years prior. Long story short, get the removal in writing, and find out who's written and signed it. You want to verify that they are authorized to make such an agreement and won't wiggle out of it.

Second, writing the letter and cc'ing the parties above is worth your time. The impact on your credit rating will be there for 7 years. You will pay so much more than your 10% hourly income rate or anything in extra finance charges, points, capital requirements, etc when you buy a house.

The bottom line:
1. Collection agencies are scum, and will lie to you to get their money. Get everything from them in writing.
2. Do what it takes to get it removed from your credit report. A 20 point difference in your credit score can cost you 100 basis points or more on a mortgage. It's worth your time to fix it now.