Hello, Probably TMI, but I think unless you know the whole story I may not get the best answer. In May 2008 my teenage daughter tried to commit suicide. She was stabilized at our local hospital and sent by ambulance to a bigger hospital in another city for treatment. While there, while my daughter was still unconscious and non-responsive, a psychiatrist came in to see my daughter. She explained that it was standard hospital procedure for a psychiatrist to be called in on all 5150 holds, and then she proceeded to complain about the state of psychiatric care in our state (Georgia) for about 10 minutes. And then she left. She didn't touch my daughter. She didn't even stand by my daughter's bed. She just stood in the doorway of the ICU. Once my daughter was a little more stabilized she was transferred to a short term care facility in an even bigger city. I am thankful to say that she is doing well today but it has been many rough years. Imagine my surprise when I got a bill for $195. When I called to find out details, it turns out it was for this jerk of a psychiatrist. We did not ask for, and she did not treat, my daughter. She could not have treated my daughter, because my daughter was unconscious! Seriously, my daughter's psychiatric care did not begin until she went to the short term care facility. And meds she was being given were ordered by the hospital medical staff, not this psychiatrist. I told them I was not going to pay, because nothing was done for my daughter by this person and we didn't request her services. Eventually the bill was sent to a local collection agency. When I got the first bill from the collection agency I called them, told them the circumstances of the bill, and they have not actively tried to collect it all this time. But it still is listed on my credit report. What area of credit law does this fall under? In researching this on the web, I still don't know if it would be classified as an open account, a contract, or none of the above. Specifically, I want to know if the SOL has run out. I want to be able ask them (tell them?) to stop listing it on my credit report. It is about to be 6 years from the date of (non)service. Thanks for any guidance you can provide.
OK. The angle I would emphasize isn't that you didn't ask for the care of this specific Dr. Unfortunately, most times in emergency situations, you get the Dr. who is on call for that specialty service. Now, I would raise challenge to the fact that they are billing for an evaluation which was performed while she was unconscious. Under most states, that I know of, commitment requires a cursory physical exam needs to be done, and as you are arguing (valid) they couldn't have done so with her unconscious. Did you put the CA dispute, in writing? If not, I would, immediately, and include the Dr. and the hospital in the complaint letter chain. The legal repercussions are limited with the account being older, but check to see if their account is reporting as being in dispute. If not, I would additionally advise them they are reporting the debt incorrectly. Then I would dispute the debt through the CRAs, with the entire saga outlined in the CRA dispute, IF the CA verifies it, THEN you have an actionable violation of the FCRA, which would also be reporting false credit information under the FDCPA.
I spoke with an attorney about this yesterday, so I thought I would come back with a solid answer in case someone else might benefit. There are actually two separate issues: the statute of limitations for being sued, and it appearing on my credit report. The statute of limitations for filing suit regarding a medical bill is 4 years in GA, so that ran out a couple of years ago in this case. However, as a collection on my credit report, it can stay on my credit report for 7 years. I was combining them not being able to (legally) pursue the collection with it coming off my credit report. I got nowhere trying to get the medical office to drop the charge, so once it was turned over to a collection agency, I called the collection agency when I got the first notice and explained that I would not be paying and told them why, and they have never attempted to collect it in all these years.
Yes, those are different things... But the FDCPA and FCRA govern how they can report it. If its disputed, and they don't report it as such, they are breaking both laws...
It sounds like you should be disputing this alleged "debt" with the credit bureaus as "charges for services not rendered" and explain that the doctor is attempting to bill for medical services which were simply not provided, on account of the fact that she never actually saw the patient. You should be able to get this removed, because I doubt that the collection agency will expend the resources to respond to a dispute considering the dollar amount, age, and other circumstances. Good luck.
I would recommend looking at my initial reply. 1) Send a WRITTEN letter disputing the debt to the CA, with a CC to the OC. (An oral dispute, which you made, doesn't protect your rights under the FDCPA; if you can't prove that you disputed it, they can say that you never did.) 2) IF the account isn't being reported as being in dispute on your credit report, then I would send notice that the CA is in violation of the FDCPA for reporting false credit information; and the FCRA for not reporting the account as being in dispute. 3) Dispute the account as BCohen suggested as something similar to "charges for services not rendered". 4) IF THEY VERIFY, and don't include the fact that the account is disputed then you now have them for violating both the FDCPA and FCRA, and both of the violations (thanks to step 3) are ACTIONABLE, meaning that you can sue them in Federal Court for $1,000 for violating the FDCPA for reporting false credit information, and $1,000 per TRADELINE per DISPUTE for violating the FCRA for not performing an adequate investigation of the dispute (which is something more complex than a simple "NOT MINE" dispute. So if they're reporting on one CRA, you'd be suing for $2,000; two CRAs, you'd be suing for $3,000; three CRAs, you'd be suing for $4,000. Now, you have a situation where they want to see you go away as quickly and cheaply as possible. The quickest and cheapest way is to wave a magic wand and disappear.
