If I receive a collection notice for a hospital bill, am I required to pay the collection agency? I called the hospital myself and they said they had to refer me to the collection agency. She also said the account wasnt sold but they were paying a collection agency to collect the debt. Isn't there any law out there that maybe gives me the right to pay the original creditor. Probably not but Im hopeful. Thanks, MistyEyed
I have a similar situation. Based on what I could find here, I sent a cease and desist letter to the collection agency. I doubt the collection agency would consider any legal action since the debt is only $400. Therefore, they should punt it back to the original creditor (IE, the hospital's billing unit). I'm going to send a letter to a manager at the original creditor approx. two weeks after the CA signed for the cease and desist to arrange for payment in exchange for written assurance that no marks will be placed on my credit reports as a result of this situation.
That sounds like a good idea. What makes me sick about this, is I never received a bill from the Hospital. And its only for $100. Oh, I also decided to call back and hopefully get a different person to talk to. Well I got the same one, but I had her look up my records so she could atleast tell me what it was for because since i had never received a bill I wasn't even sure what this was for. Well, she said she had no record of anything in my file for $103.50. And I told her the name of the agency and now she says it wasnt even the one they normally use, so she said to call them or write them and ask them what it was for. So I thought I was going good until she says oh, well we do have another account for you. Apparently I was in the hospital from 2-1-99 - 3-3-99. An entire month! I almost laughed my tail off, I have never been in the hospital for anything except maybe a 2 day stay when I had my kids but it wasnt even on those dates. Whats even funnier is that account is in collections for $65!!!! with a different collection agency of whom has not even contacted me. I swear one these days Im just gonna burn my fingerprints off, get a face lift and apply for a new social security number to start over. This is awful! MistyEyed
I have heard that loan companies dont look at medical collections.... I have also heard that medical collections are easy to get deleted of credit reports... I look for some info on that and post if I find it. Da Kev in da 600 klub
Sounds like you need to find out if this is your debt. Need to send validation letters to both collection agencies. If it turns out to be your debt and you need to pay it, I would then send a cease and desist letter to both collection agencies and pay the creditor directly. If you live in a state that acknowledges "Restrictive Endorsements" I would add it to the back of the check when paying the bill. I don't know if "Restrictive Endorsement" will work but I am about to find out. I am paying a delinquent debt using the endorsement on the back will see if the late pays will be removed from my credit report or not. Tuit
