Question:
I have kind of a silly situation here.
I had a $50 hospital copay which I failed to pay in due time. I've
been out of town for the last few month and got back lastweek. Today a
collection agency sent me a letter that I owe them $50 plus $5.50 for
interests. It looks like the hospital sent it over to collection
agency after several attempts to send me a bill while I was away. It's
not like I intend not to pay and it's just $50 after all.
My question is that first, who should I contact to pay/resolve the
situation, the creditor or collection agency? second, If I pay it
right away will the collection agency still report me to the credit
agencies (possibly leave a speck on my credit history)? finally, what
should I do?
I've never had a debt before and maintained a perfect credit history.
It's the first time I have to deal with collections agency and I don't
know what to do.
Please enlighten me. Any opinions/suggestions are welcome.
Answer:
It couldn't hurt to contact the creditor. After all, they would get
less than $50 of the $55.50. However, it may be out of their hands.
In my personal experience, I did receive one doctor's bill from a
collection agency, when I had not received any previous bills from
that doctor. I contacted the doctor, paid him the originally specified
amount, and there is no trace today on my credit record, nor did
I take any action to remove the trace. In other words, any
collection notice on my credit record that may have been there was
removed without my contacting the credit reporting agencies or
the collection agency.
As for interest, the neither the hospital nor a collection agency
can charge interest unless it was specified in the original contract --
and the interest rate cannot be greater than that allowed by state
law. 11% for a "few months" seems unlikely to be legal.
