The three credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion and Experian) will no longer report tax liens and civil judgments without certain identifying information. From now on, a tax lien or civil judgment must contain a consumer’s date of birth and Social Security number before they can be listed on a credit report. Fortunately, most tax liens and civil judgments do not contain this information. In addition to these new credit reporting rules, the bureaus will also wait 180 days before including medical debt on reports. This is the result of a settlement between 31 attorneys general and the three credit reporting agencies. The changes to tax liens and civil judgments took effect on July 1st. However, changes to how medical debt is reported will not go into effect until September 1st. Can I Receive a Free Copy of My Credit Report? Depending on your financial circumstances, this could be good news for…
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Did you know that half of all negative marks on credit reports are related to medical expenses? For 15 million Americans, unpaid medical bills are the only negative marks on their credit reports. This problem has become worse as more Americans purchase insurance policies with high deductibles. However, recent changes to how the three credit agencies will report these blemishes could improve your credit score. Starting on September 15th, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian will wait for 180 days before adding unpaid medical bills to your credit report. At the moment, your medical bills may be reported to the credit bureaus after 30 to 120 days of nonpayment. This new waiting period will give you time to resolve disputes with your insurance company. If a hospital or doctor’s office sends you to collections, the three credit bureaus will remove the debt from your credit report once it is paid by your…
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A recent article published by Bloomberg suggests that an increasing number of Americans, even those with health insurance, are turning to crowdfunding services to fund their medical bills. Crowdfunding services work by soliciting online donations from thousands of other people. According to an article, 70 percent of YouCaring campaigns involve medical bills. GoFundMe’s CEO has also reported that medical bills have helped business boom. While some people may successfully use crowdfunding to pay their medical bills, many others fail to reach their fundraising goals. According to a 2015 study released by NerdWallet, a financial analytics website, only 11 percent of crowdfunding campaigns for medical bills are successful. To be considered successful by the study, the campaign needed to meet its target goal. Fundraising goals also varied depending on the crowdfunding service. An additional study conducted by the University of Washington discovered that only 10 percent of these campaigns met their…
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