When it comes to finding and getting rid of old medical debt that you find on your credit, the process is similar, although somewhat different, that getting rid of old debt altogether. Medical billing companies and their collection agencies not only have to comply with the federal credit laws – the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), mainly – but they also must be in full compliance with another very important federal law, known as the Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability A ..read more

You are ready to take on the world with the love of your life. You both have dreams and aspirations individually and as a unit. You’re looking at buying a house, a couple of new cars and maybe pop out some kids. This is the normal American Dream. Most of us have been given this blueprint, but very few of us have gotten the manual of things NOT to do on our journey to wealth and happiness.  Building and maintaining credit is a huge deal to getting all those things. The big question here is should you be building credit together with your partner/spouse or should you keep things separate ..read more

Introduction Let’s face it, money makes the world go ‘round.  That is no secret, and it is certainly true in the credit repair and collections industry, where money is literally the reason why such firms exist in the first place.  This translates into every aspect of the world of debt collection companies, even when you have negotiated a settlement with them to pay off a balance that you agree that you owe.   What happens is that, when a new debt collector takes on the debt of another creditor or former collection agency, they will send out a letter to you introducing their fi ..read more

Introduction   About a week ago, while sitting in my office working on tedious billing matters of my own, a former client called in a state of complete and utter panic, to the point that I could hardly make out her words in-between tears.  After some calming words, she proceeded to let me know that someone had just called her on her cell phone demanding that she pay a 4-year-old payday loan balance of $750 that she had defaulted on due to the unexpected death of her mother and a series of financial hits that occurred after that.  She then told me that the collector started scr ..read more

Introduction   When it comes to collections accounts, one of the major categories that most people will encounter on their credit report is medical collections.  These can occur for all types of reasons, but generally happen when either a patient received treatment at a hospital without medical insurance or when medical insurance rejects a claim for payment or only pays a portion, leaving a balance due by the patient.   Several issues surrounding treatment and payment issues can result in a balance due, and we are in the process of putting together a series of posts at the 760 ..read more

Introduction Back in the 1980s, as personal computers started to proliferate in everyday society, the problem of unauthorized access to medical information started to become a very real threat.  By the mid-1990s, when it became impossible to run a medical office without digitizing each patient’s health record, the problem came to a head.  Those who worked in the industry could expect to encounter a different system in which personal information was stored as well as different protocols for handling this sensitive information at each office that he/she worked at or with.  Compou ..read more

If you want to get ahead with your savings, there is only one rock-solid way to make sure you are accomplishing goals that put you ahead.  Creating a budget will show you exactly what is coming in, going out, and being saved.  However, not every budget is created equal, and every budget should be created with a specific goal in mind.  In this post, we will teach you the basics for creating a simple savings-oriented budget geared towards accomplishing a specific goal, whether you want to save for a vacation or just want to pay off a credit card faster than paying the minimum du ..read more

So, you pull your credit one month during your normal process of credit monitoring, and you notice the worst possible scenario – you see accounts opened that you know for a fact that you did not open. You have become the victim of identity theft.  Now, while your first reaction may be to panic and start making phone calls to the credit bureaus and to the police, but the moment you find out that you have fallen victim to an identity theft scheme, the actions you take can have grave implications in your quest to recover.  In our earlier series on identity theft, most posts have focus ..read more

In a previous post, we identified the top reasons that put you at risk of becoming a target of savvy identity thieves.  In this post, we will examine the last 5 rules in a set of 10 that you can take to make sure you never become a victim of these criminals.   To view our previous post in a series on Identity Theft, please see the post titled “The 4 Major Signs that you are At Risk of Identity Theft” on the 760Credit Blog.  To view the first 5 rules for preventing ID theft, see “Top 10 Rules to Prevent Becoming a Victim of Identity Theft” on the 760Credit Blog.  The s ..read more

Introduction   It’s 2019, and let’s face it, identity theft happens every day that ends in “Y,” millions of times over. In fact, it is so ubiquitous in our digital lives that, according to The Identity Theft Center, it has ranked number one on the FTC’s list of reported crimes for fifteen years straight! It is likely that you know someone in your extended circle of contacts that has been a victim of this horribly devastating crime if not your immediate family. Additionally, the negative impacts of identity theft on your quality of life is unique to this crime alone, simply because inste ..read more