Dispute on basis of terms?

[troutoil]

I had some medical debts that went to collections several years ago, but were recently paid off in one lump sum. The collections still show up on my report, but with they say "Terms: 1 month." I never agreed to any terms with these agencies, and was wondering if I could dispute these items based on that piece of information. Thanks for your time.

[Lian]

You can dispute any item of information in your CR that is inaccurate. I recommend sending your dispute directly to the party who reported the information to the CRA using the direct dispute process under FCRA 623(a)(8), and bypassing the CRA dispute process.

The key reporting pertaining to a debt collector once a debt has been settled is that they close the collection, and report a $0 balance remaining under collection. The "terms" reference you are referring to apparently applies to some term of payment agreement they reported as having been reached. If it is incorrect, then you can dispute it.

However, such a dispute wont aid your credit score. Once a collection has been reported, the negative damage is done to your credit score. FICO does not score the payment of debt, and no score increase accrues due to its payment. It is always good to keep your CR accurate. Make sure the account is updated to closed, with $0 collection balance, as this will inform others viewing your CR that the debt has been paid.

[Hal Jordan]

I would recommend the opposite I'm afraid. I would advise you directly dispute the collections with the Credit bureaus. The very fact that they have been paid aids your chances of them just ignoring the request for verification and the collection being deleted.

It does not hurt to try and given the fact that you have nothing left to bargain with them for, the filing of a dispute with the CRA's is now your biggest chance of getting the item deleted.