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s/credit unions/credit reporting agencies/

credit unions are one of the few pro-consumer entities in the financial world, it would be a shame to smear them

I will add credit unions are chartered banks...but unlike "banks" they are not owned by shareholders, they are non-profits made up of the members (account holders).

Ideally in 2008 all the "banks" should have gone bankrupt and the vacuum should have been filled with credit unions, instead lawmakers gave the banks $2T as a reward for ruining the US economy so they could float their own debts instead of declaring bankruptcy and enough so they could buy up their competitors to further consolidate the marketplace.

Medical debt is regarded less harshly in FICO 9. I am not sure how widespread the use of FICO 9 is currently among credit bureaus but it is the latest standard.

It is not exactly the same. The bill cannot go into collections for 180 days. This is different from regular debt.

180 days is generally how long it takes their system to adjust the charges and send you a semi-fraudulent bill instead of the fully-fraudulent one.