We are working on cleaning up a friends report. There is an unpaid medical collection from 2/97 from a lung center. He sent a request for validation CRR and they received it on 5/8. Today he received a letter from them. Now he is unsure whether this is actually his because his father has the same name and past on in 99 (he was very sick and had been in and out of the hospitals for a long time). So to get to the point here is what he received: Letter from collection agency dated 5/9 Account# XXX Balance due:360.00 (this is highlighted) In response to your request, enclosed is full information concerning your account. It must be clear to you now, that this account must be paid in full without further delay! This is an attempt to collect a debt. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose. Thank you, Collection Manager Attached to this letter is a statement dated 5/6/97 from the lung center for the balance $360.00. It has an address listed for him that he has never lived at. It is for 3 charges: 2/2/97 - hospital admission 2/3/97 - hospital visit 2/4/97 - hospital discharge 1)Now seeing as they have the full 30 days to properly validate should we wait before we send anything else? 2)If they don't send proper validation, the first letter is trying to collect the debt and would constitute as a violation,right? 3)They still must note the account as disputed with theCRA,right? 4)What typre of letter should we send next? Thanks!
This is the first letter he ever received from them: It came after he disputed the account with the CRA. CREDIT BUREAU NOTIFICATION Today, a credit grantor, whom you have recently applied for credit with, inquired to our office regarding your delinquent account. To clear this delinquent account, bring in payment-in-full to XXXXXXXXXXXXXX This is an attempt to collect a debt. any information will be used for that purpose. We, required by law, reported the following: Rating: (9)-unpaid past due collection account Creditor: XXX lung center Amount: 360.00
I would pump them for information, information that would prove that this is not your friend's bill. There would have to be some admission papers and medical history questionaire papers somewhere, that would also provide a signature. Ask for them. They should also have the age/DOB of the patient. They should have the person's SSN. All this would prove that this bill does not belong to your friend. Basically, I would ask for validation again, requesting the above info. If they cannot provide it, then send the estoppel.
