18 Oct How can I find out if I have medical liens against me?

Q. How can I find out if I have medical liens from a car accident that happened in 2023?
— Debtor, maybe

A. It may be too soon to tell.

But your credit report may have the answer.

You can check your reports for free at AnnualCreditReport.com.

This will list any judgments or liens against you. But keep in mind that it could take a little time for any lien to be posted to your reports, in part to changes in how medical collections debt appears on your reports.

As of April 2023, the credit bureaus removed any medical debt with balances of less that $500 from your reports. At that time, there was another important change that increased the amount of time before unpaid medical collection debt appears on a report from six months to a year.

This gives you more time to pay the debt or negotiate with your creditors.

Also note that New Jersey passed a new law that would help some consumers who have medical debt, but that won’t help you given that your debt happened before the bill was signed into law.

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This story was originally published in October 2024.

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