My dad told me paying off collections would boost my score instantly. He was wrong.

I had a $350 medical collection from a ER visit back in 2018. Dad said just pay it and your score jumps 50 points. But after I paid it through the collection agency in Phoenix, my score only went up 8 points. Turns out paying a collection doesn't always make it vanish from your report. Anyone else get bad advice from family about credit stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

finley_gonzalez492d ago

Start by asking your dad if he ever actually read the Fair Credit Reporting Act or just heard a rumor from his buddy. His advice was pretty standard stuff from like 15 years ago before the rules changed on medical collections. You should check if that collection agency even validated the debt before you paid it because a lot of them don't bother. Is he the type who thinks paying anything off automatically fixes everything like magic?

kimmurphy2d ago

$600 medical bill tanked my score for two years before I got it sorted. @finley_gonzalez49 is spot on about the validation thing, most agencies won't bother if you don't push back. Solid advice to check that before throwing money at it.

seth_shah2d ago

Learned that one the hard way myself, spent a year paying off a bill that wasn't even mine.