Oh yeah, how do I CC the validation letter thats going to the CA to the school? I mean when the letter is written?
You want to pin down 2 things: 1) What the original bill was for, from who, when, and how much? This might come from either the university or from the CA. 2) Was the original bill supposed to be covered, either partly or fully, based on your enrollment with the university? What, if anything, is your remaining responsibility? You are most likely to get this from the university, unless the original bill references a payment or coverage under your enrollment terms. Until you have both (1) and (2), you don't know even if you owe anything.
So I have my validation letter printed out ready to go to the CA and if they have it, they should provide me with all the necessary materials. If not, than the school....
Okay so I once again call this guy at the school and he is not answering his phone so I call the Health Services and they dont have any record of me so I call the bursars office again and they say they dont have any record of me because it went to collections...even if it did go to collections they should still have me in their system at the health services center right? So I asked the lady at the bursars office why did they wait seven years? And she says I dont know you'll have to talk to this guy so I say that he never called me back and he didnt answer his phone today and I ask if he's on vacation and she says No, he's here and than the next thing I know I am hearing music and this guys voice mail picks up. ARRRRGGG I am pissed right now. In the VL can I ask for something with my signature on it saying that I was going to pay for these services cause at the time its a small fee and I paid that small fee. But of course the dumb witch on the telephone wont give me any answers except that I have to speak to this one guy, who wont answer his phone. Sorry I am just venting....
You might also search for evidence of item (2) above, either in any documentation you have from your enrollment with them, or in their course catalog, or applications, either from the time of your enrollment, or if similar policies are still in place, from a current catalog if you can't find anything older. Basically a reminder to the university that "this should have been covered, based on their usual policies. I was enrolled at the time, see your application/catalog pg. ###. Why is this bill even being collected when it would normally have been covered?"
I dont have any of the paperwork from when I was there 7 years ago. However I researched the website and found something about insurance and it brought a vague memory. I remember I had my wisdom tooth pulled and had some form of insurance from the school and it only cost me 5 bucks for pulling my tooth, so I emailed the person from the email address on the webpage and am going to see if they can help me at all. It also said that if you were enrolled in more than 6 hours the cost would be less and I remember paying money for bc pills and some other stuff and it was relatively cheap 20 bucks here and there. That dumb woman wont give me any information and I cant get a hold of the guy she told me I need to talk to so its back to square one until I can get a hold of him...Thanks for your help! I really do appreciate it.
Then you keep dogging the guy who is supposed to handle the matter until he does. Do not let him off the hook just because he has voice mail and doesn't reply. His secretary or whoever may get tired of your calls (one per day), but keep records of each one showing that you have continued to try to resolve the matter. It gives you the moral high ground, compared with the presumption that all accounts sent to collection are by "deadbeats". If this path gets nowhere, you will need to force it up to the next level. To do that, you build the case that he has not dealt with a perfectly reasonable request/dispute. Either someone else will deal with it, or his boss will tell him to deal with it. If it is too much trouble to find original records or whatever, or if their normal practice would have been for a bill like this to have been paid at time of service and it looks likely that if they tracked down the records,it would have been in error, someone can make the decision that the easiest and cheapest solution is to recall and cancel it. This is what you want, since it removes it from the CA.
Here's a copy of the letter from the website and I added a few things here and there...will you look it over..its going to the CA. Dear Sir/Madame: Thank you for your recent inquiry. This is not a refusal to pay, but a notice that your claim is being disputed. This is a request for validation made pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Please complete and return the attached disclosure request form. You have 30 days to comply from day of receipt. Be advised that I am not requesting a "verification" that you have my mailing address, I am requesting a "validation;" that is, competent evidence that I have some contractual obligation to pay you. You should also be aware that sending unsubstantiated demands for payment through the United States Mail System might constitute mail fraud under federal and state law. You may wish to consult with a competent legal advisor before your next communication with me. Your failure to satisfy this request within the requirements of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act will be construed as your absolute waiver of any and all claims against me, and your tacit agreement to compensate me for costs and attorney fees. CREDITOR DISCLOSURE STATEMENT 1. Name and Address of Collector (assignee): _________________________ 2. Name and Address of Debtor: ____________________________________ 3. Account Number(s): ____________________________________________ 4. What are the terms of assignment for this account? You may attach a facsimile of any records relating to such terms. 5. Have any insurance claims been made by any creditor or assignee regarding this account? YES/NO 6. Has the purported balanced of this account been used in any tax deduction claim? YES/NO 7. Please list the particular products or services sold by the collector to the debtor and the dollar amount of each: 8. Is there any paperwork bearing my signature stating I would pay or owe this debt? If so, please include. Upon failure or refusal of collector to validate this collection action, collector agrees to waive all claims against the debtor named herein and pay debtor for all costs and attorney fees involved in defending this collection action. ________________________________ Authorized signature for Collector __/__/__ If you feel any changes should be made, please, let me know.
oh trust me I'm not going to give up contacting him. I will call and leave messages everyday if I have to. However, in the meantime I would like to get the vl out to the CA. My 30 day dispute period is coming around the corner.
The above is all basic "negotiating" or forcing a decision, based on how institutions and their employees act on or neglect their responsibilities. You are using much the same strategy used by a CA to get a debtor to pay. If they don't do their job one way, they should be embarrassed enough to feel obligated to do it another way. Don't you be the one to drop the ball, or they will claim they thought the matter was resolved, and you are just not paying. If the issue comes to a head, or you finally get an accurate accounting and find you owe something, you may show that their earlier bill was erroneous, or that their sloppiness and delay in resolving its accuracy, based on the legitimate issues raised, was the cause of your delay in payment. This is the basis for your argument, if needed, that any negative tradeline should be removed if that is necessary. Until an accurate bill substantiating the unexpected charges is presented, how can they expect you to pay a bill that based on your understanding of your agreement with them at the time, would have been paid or covered at the time of service? Since your memory of the terms at the time is that all services would have been covered, or paid at the time of service, the whole amount of the bill is in dispute.
The above is all basic "negotiating" or forcing a decision, based on how institutions and their employees act on or neglect their responsibilities. You are using much the same strategy used by a CA to get a debtor to pay. If they don't do their job one way, they should be embarrassed enough to feel obligated to do it another way. Don't you be the one to drop the ball, or they will claim they thought the matter was resolved, and you are just not paying. If the issue comes to a head, or you finally get an accurate accounting and find you owe something, you may show that their earlier bill was erroneous, or that their sloppiness and delay in resolving its accuracy, based on the legitimate issues raised, was the cause of your delay in payment. This is the basis for your argument, if needed, that any negative tradeline should be removed if that is necessary. Until an accurate bill substantiating the unexpected charges is presented, how can they expect you to pay a bill that based on your understanding of your agreement with them at the time, would have been paid or covered at the time of service? Since your memory of the terms at the time is that all services would have been covered, or paid at the time of service, the whole amount of the bill is in dispute.
Forgive me for being dense, so dont send the vl until I really find out whats going on here? Should I let the CA know that I'm working with the school on this matter or not talk to them at all?
By all means send the validation. Also send it to the university. Don't drop that ball either. But I would write a letter directly addressing the issues, instead of using a form letter that requests a lot of irrelevant information. Your dispute appears more legitimate, and less like a delaying tactic. Assuming you already know that this is a medical bill, and that the university provided coverage to enrolled students, I would say that in your letter. You want to know or have sent: Copy of any original signed contract. Copy of the original bill or invoice. Who is the original creditor? When was the original bill sent, and where was it sent to? What were the goods or services being billed for, who were they provided to, and who provided them? When was the original date of delivering the goods or services? What amounts were paid on the bill, and when were they paid? Was any of this paid or payable, covered or coverable, by insurance, or covered by the university under coverage provided to enrolled students? All of the above is appropriate for a bill for medical services sent 7 years after they were provided, where there was some coverage that should have been provided. If the university has complete records on this bill, they will have all of the above. If the CA fails to provide pertinent information, and it turns out some coverage should have been provided, you use the lever that this bill was erroneously sent to collection with signficant errors in the amount due, due to negligence (or breach of contract, or fraud, if they don't fix and continue to try to collect amounts not due). All negative information should be removed, even if some amount is due.
By all means send the validation. Also send it to the university. Don't drop that ball either. But I would write a letter directly addressing the issues, instead of using a form letter that requests a lot of irrelevant information. Your dispute appears more legitimate, and less like a delaying tactic. Assuming you already know that this is a medical bill, and that the university provided coverage to enrolled students, I would say that in your letter. You want to know or have sent: Copy of any original signed contract. Copy of the original bill or invoice. Who is the original creditor? When was the original bill sent, and where was it sent to? What were the goods or services being billed for, who were they provided to, and who provided them? When was the original date of delivering the goods or services? What amounts were paid on the bill, and when were they paid? Was any of this paid or payable, covered or coverable, by insurance, or covered by the university under coverage provided to enrolled students? All of the above is appropriate for a bill for medical services sent 7 years after they were provided, where there was some coverage that should have been provided. If the university has complete records on this bill, they will have all of the above. If the CA fails to provide pertinent information, and it turns out some coverage should have been provided, you use the lever that this bill was erroneously sent to collection with signficant errors in the amount due, due to negligence (or breach of contract, or fraud, if they don't fix and continue to try to collect amounts not due). All negative information should be removed, even if some amount is due.
Re: Re: Will it stop??? Why don't you get his address and send him a copy of your letter too? This will put him on notice that you don't intend to let this matter drop, and it will provide a "paper trail" of your efforts to correct it!
