Consumer complaint received 2017-02-06
Company: Strategic Alliances, Inc.
State: GA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.)
Issue: Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was paid

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I received a message from a creditor that my credit score had dropped significantly. I had already been pre-approved to purchase a new home & expected to close by XX/XX/XXXX. I panicked b/c I did not understand how a credit score that i had protected so well since approval had dropped right before buying a home. i pulled my credit report & found that there was a new medical debt added as " past due. '' I contacted the collection agency 1st Financial Investment Fund & inquired about the debt. When I heard the name of the hospital I told them that I had satisfied all debts w/ this hospital- XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX & XX/XX/XXXX. I explained that through negotiation I spent over $ XXXX to settle all outstanding medical collections, only to find that some were duplicates that i had paid. The collection agent was very rude, aggressive, dismissive & stated, " that 's not my problem ; you owe the debt. '' I asked how to have it removed & she explained that they were a secondary company hired to collect the debt and the corporate office was at another location. I called the corporate office & spoke to a supervisor named " XXXX. '' She was ruder, nasty, dismissive and stated, " even if you pay the debt, we are not removing it from your credit report. I will explain why & I 'm tired of saying the same thing to everyone who calls. We do n't allow anyone to pay as an agreement to delete b/c that 's the only reason some people pay, to help their credit. '' I asked if this was their policy or the law. She stated, " It is our policy and the law. '' I went further to tell her that I had made a payment ( not realizing this was an account I had already paid ) in XX/XX/XXXX and a few days later they reported me to the credit bureau as " past due. '' She claimed I owed an " additional XXXX accounts '' for XXXX which were all the same amounts I have listed on the sheet I used as a record the day XXXX paid off all medical bills. She said, " we buy accounts from XXXX. '' She was unreasonable & asked, " what evidence do you have that you paid? If it 's just your bank statements then that 's not enough. I need a letter stating that you made a payment. '' I expressed that unless they send out letters I did not have XXXX. 

I had already gone to XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX requesting documentation and itemization of these erroneous bills. According to the prior collection agency, the hospital claimed that I had been a patient at their hospital almost XXXX month in XX/XX/XXXX & several in XX/XX/XXXX. I KNEW that was not true as I had only been in Georgia since late XX/XX/XXXX & had only been to that hospital perhaps 4 times including a short hospitalization in XX/XX/XXXX After I spoke with XXXX @ XXXX Financial Investment I called XXXX XXXX 's billing department & to date they refuse to return my calls. I never received itemized bills from them. I was told they had 'no access to those dates. '' I paid an excess of $ XXXX in settlements to XXXX & hundreds to another collection agency per their records. 
In XX/XX/XXXX/XX/XX/XXXX I sat on my couch and paid over $ XXXX to satisfy all outstanding medical debts. I learned my debts had been repeatedly sold to many XXXX. Due to this recent report by XXXX XXXX, I disputed the account. They replied w/i 2 days that it was accurate. 
I called XXXX XXXX & over the course of 3 days I spoke to XXXX different individuals & they gave me substantial amounts that i paid, but said they were having trouble accessing " all of them because they are old archives. '' Each employee gave me several accounts, & the last told me as did the others that i settled on all accounts & when I totaled the accounts it was near {$3000.00}. XXXX XXXX XXXX as the creditor. 
I now am no longer qualified to buy a home due to the hit my score took when they erroneously reported a debt I paid from services XXXX ago.

Company public response: Company believes complaint represents an opportunity for improvement to better serve consumers
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation