We were waiting for an updated statement from medical office, after insurance & preferred provider discounts were applied. We rec'd correct Statement 3/6/04 and mailed a check for full amount the same day. 3/7/04 (Sunday) at 8:30 pm we were served with a summoms from a collection company we have never heard of. We contacted the collection company Monday and they said they had sent us a letter a month prior to this, which we never rec'd, and now that it had been filed with the court they would only drop it if we paid them 176.00. They also suggested maybe we thought their letter was junk mail and threw it away. We did not receive any such letter from them. How can this be legal when we were waiting for a correct statement on our account? (we knew the statement was incorrect and we owed MORE money than the complaint states) Thanks in advance for any advice! Original incorrect statement rec'd in December 23, 2003. Same time they submitted to insurance.
Contact the original creditor and ask if the collection agency was suposed to be collecting the debt, and if they were authorized to file suit. IN MOST states, ONLY THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR OR ASSIGNEE may file suit. IF the creditor SOLD the account to the collection agency, the collection agency CAN SUE YOU! BUT THE CREDITOR THEN CANNOT TAKE PAYMENT If you are game, go to court and see what the collection agency says (after you get info from the creditor and it was NOT sold to the collection agency) The judge would be more than interested in hearing how the collection agency filed on a paid debt
Did you receive the canceled check from the OC, yet (or notice that it cleared your bank, yet)? Is the $176.00 the actual bill, or fees, court costs, legal fees, etc? OR -- is it the part of the bill which was paid by the insurance cos? Or a combination of the two? These facts are important, if the OC sent the ENTIRE bill to the CA BEFORE the adjustments were made for what the insurance cos paid; then the CA probably wants you to pay what the insurance cos have already paid. If the OC cashed your check, you need to have them contact the CA, and tell the CA that the bill was submitted in error, and that they were reimbersed by the insurance cos. The key part is submitted in error. If you can get from the insurance cos' a copy of the canceled check from them to the OC, even better. You need to have more documentation than they will if this thing goes to court. Even if they tell you it was settled, you still need to show up in court, because there are many cases where the CA trys to tell the consumer that it was settled, don't bother showing up to court, just to get the default judgment. This means that you must have both your canceled check; and the insurance cos canceled checks. Tell the insurance co that OC assigned the account to a CA because the OC did not receive the payment timely enough, and the CA is trying to sue you for this paid bill. If you do have to go to court, your first arguement would be, if the OC didn't send the final statement until 03/XX/04, and you didn't receive the final statement until 03/06/04, and paid it THE SAME DATE, and they accepted and cashed the payment on 03/XX/04; how could CA have had the account for more than a month prior to that.
Thank you for replying to my post so quickly! I'm filing my response with the court today. The $176.00 was for CA, attorney fees, filing fee's, even though they said the would settle out of court for $128.00. Where these figures are coming from, I have no clue, they don't add up to filing fee's and attorney fee. But they told my husband either pay 128.00 now or if it goes to court they will ask for an additional 500.00 for the attorney. They filed suit on 176.91 when in fact the correct adjusted amount we owed was more - $203.00, which we paid and the Medical office cashed. In my response to the judge I pointed out that as of filing date 2/23/04 the balance information was STILL not correct $176.91. In the meantime we rec'd statement, paid it then 2 days later served with summons. 45 days is not unreasonable for a medical bill. They bill insurance, insurance reviews, then issues payment - THEN they bill us leftover amount. With mail time and processing time - I just think 45 days is not bad. I figure if I'm going to have to pay, might as well go to court. It's the issue that ticks me off. The CA stated in the summons they attempted SEVERAL times to collect. We never knew they existed. Do they have to prove they attempted to contact us? I can't PROVE I didn't rec the letter..... I hate intimidation and the comment pay 128.00 now or 628.00 later, either way, right or wrong your going to pay us something. I'll let you know how it goes - wish me luck!
ALSO I have a statement from the medical office dated 1/31/04 CURRENT amount due 26.19. Then the next statement rec'd 3/5/03 203.00 amount due. (After new charges were added) How can you be CURRENT Jan 31 and it being filed in court Feb 23??? That's not even 30 days!
Jam237s post is a fine example of why you never want to pay any un validated debt (IE any bill that isn't prooven beyond a shadow of a doubt) It makes no difference who the dunner is CA OC or anyone else.
The $176.00 was for CA, attorney fees, filing fee's, Where these figures are coming from, I have no clue, they don't add up to filing fee's and attorney fee. Itstamee ************************************ Even if the fees were legit. They aren't collectable prior to trial. The ca would have to win the suit and the judge would have to award such fees if any at that time.
