Hello. I recently discovered that I have 2 negative collections on my credit report from a surgery I had in Nov 2001. The bills aren't that much ($133 and $25) and involve a dispute between the insurer and the doctors. My work changed insurance companies in Jan 2002 and I thought everything had been settled. The status dates are Apr 2002 and Sept 2003. My now ex-wife always got the mail and did most of the bills and she "sort of" remembers getting collection letters but swears she would have given them to me (she didn't).

I really believe the insurance company slacked off because they knew they were on the way out at my work. But of course the papers somehow got lost during the divorce (or my ex has them buried deep in the hell that is her mom's basement).

If I dispute they're just going to send me the original bill, so I don't know if that would be helpful. Is it true that if I do nothing these collections will roll off my credit report at the end of 7 years (in this case Apr 2009 and Sept 2010)? If I offered some kind of compromise that was rejected would that reset some kind of 7-year clock? If I just disputed and lost would it reset the clock?

Have you disputed with the CRA's and the collectors? If not, you probably should.

Dates of status are meaningless.

The original bills are largely meaningless as well. Did the insurance company pay or not pay? Are the bills for the actual services rendered? Were the bills sent to the insurance company?

If I have to deal with some BS because some moron forgot to send something to the insurance company, everyone gets sued, and we can sort it out in court.

It is true that if you do nothing the collections will roll off in 7 years from the date of first deliquency.

If you make an offer in compromise, you are an idiot, but that has nothing to do with the collections rolling off in 7 years.

If you disputed, you'd be smart, and that also has nothing to do with resetting any clocks.

The clock can't be reset on this sort of thing. It is 7 years from the date of first delinquency, period.