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Collection company collecting an invalid debt
Anonymous7 views4 answers
June collection company tried to collect a medical debt. I told the rep I didn’t owe this debt but I would contact ins co. The hospital filed the papers wrong and I sorted it out with the ins co and they cut a check. When the rep called back I told him to contract the hospital to confirm payment, also sent letter from ins co saying they paid and I owed $0. in August they reported to the 3 credit bureaus I owed the balance not paid by ins co, I was told by them that until I paid the balance in full they would not remove it from my credit they didn’t care what my ins co said. Long story short they are sending a deletion letter to the credit bureaus. I have damages because of this invalid reporting and I would like to know if I could get damages from them or the hospital.
Your question indicates that this was a third party collection company. So, the fair debt collection act does apply to this debt collector. Most medical bills are collected by third party collection agencies. Your question states that you have actual damages. Actual damages are recoverable under the fdcpa. The fdcpa also provide that if a debt collector violates the act that you are entitled to statutory damages up to $1000 also (even if you have no damages). It is a violation to attempt to collect an amount that is not owed. But, if this debt collector immediately contacted the reporting agencies and stopped collection attempts as soon as your insurance company paid the bill, then they clearly did nothing wrong. On the other hand, if you can prove that this debt collector continued to collect or report to the credit bureaus -after- it received notice that the amount was paid and no longer due, then you may have a viable case. Learn more here, http://alturl.com/uqxqx
You want someone to pay for the annoyance of the situation. You didn't perfect your claim under the Fair Credit Reporting Act unless you disputed the debt directly to the credit bureaus and then suffered a credit rejection due to the disputed entry.
You have no claim against the hospital because the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies to 3rd party collector and not original creditors.
If you disputed the debt to the collection company in June and the collection company credit reported the account in August, they were required to report your debt as disputed. If they didn't do that, they're in violation of the FDCPA. You would be entitled to up to $1,000 plus your reasonable attorney's fees and costs (i.e. your legal fees should be free).
I hope this helps!
Good Luck,
Keren
You indicate that you (1) did not owe the debt, (2) that the debt had been paid, and (3) that you provided proof of this to the third party debt collector and to the hospital. If, after this information was provided, the debt continued to be pursued, then it is my position that they have probably violated the Texas Fair a Debt Collection Act and probably damages to your credit. Your costs in pursuing this may not, while recoverable, warrant filing suit. You should address this with a local attorney.
