madscientist

Any final and conclusive advice? Thanks.

WhyChat, thank you for your response. Ok, I am looking at my friend's credit report. All his accounts are charged off and in collections. All of his accounts (credit cards) are passed the 5 year SOL for the state of Florida. The medical account in question for this thread is actually composed of 3 separate accounts with the same local hospital totaling $10,000. He has never gone out of the country and has always lived at the same address. The last update from the local collection agency to the credit report shows a date in 2005. Last contact with the collection agency was in 2004. No letters or telephone calls since then. The marks are scheduled to fall off his credit report later this year. What would be the appropriate course of action for him in this particular scenario that either eliminates or minimizes the risk of getting sued for this? With my limited experience in hospital debts, I am inclined to advise him to simply "let sleeping dogs lie" and wait for these items to fall off, hopefully uneventfully. I'm afraid that if he starts a cleanup or dispute process, that would just make the CA point their radar directly to him. Am I correct in this assessment of the situation?

Thank you, WhyChat. I will pass this information to my friend. Quick question, though. Doing all of this would it not be like saying to the hospital or CA "Hey, hey, I am here, I am here!"? Would that not be a cause for a lawsuit?

Thank you, guys. I have passed the information here along to my friend. Can you help me with the above questions so that I can pass the answers along?

Thank you, WhyChat. My friend does not remember whether he applied for assistance or not at the time. He remembers meeting with a social worker about it, though. At the time he did not make much money and could not afford the bill. The collection account appears in his credit report (entered in 2003) by a CA. No changes or updates have been made to his credit report for this particular account since 2005. It displays "last update: 2005" for the accounts. My friend has terrible credit and several charged-off accounts that resulted from severe financial hardships. In the present time, however, his life has turned around significantly and he is making more money now. Still not enough to cover all his charged off debts. That's basically why the question surfaces. Could he still be sued for this debt even? He has not received any letters or calls from the CA on this since 2004. Oh, one more thing. There is an entry in his report saying these items are due to be removed later this year. I would appreciate any information and insights you can provide on this based on your past experience and what you have seen.

Thank you. So I guess it is all a matter of whether the hospital wants to pursue it or not. Is there a possibility that there will be no lawsuit?

Thank you, guys, for the information you have provided. To put things into perspective so that I understand correctly... If you receive medical care at a county hospital and you were not ensured at the time. If the hospital sues you 7 year later, they still can collect the amount? This leads me to another question. How long do hospitals keep your accounts active in their systems and can still sue you? I am trying to gather information for a friend. Thank you.

Anybody?

Hey guys, I am trying to find the Florida statutes that specifically state and describe that the statute of limitations for Florida debt (4 oral/5 written) does not apply to hospital bills. I have been to several law libraries and spent countless hours there, talked to librarians, etc, and I have not been able to find anything indicating that the SOL does not apply to hospitals. I have consulted two consumer attorneys who practice law in FL who seem to be under the impression that a hospital bill falls under the category of the 5-year written contract for purposes of the statute of limitations. They are not familiar with any Florida laws who specifically state that hospitals bills are exempt and must be treated under a different category. Clearly, this information must be written and defined somewhere. I am aware of judges ruling in favor of hospitals based on the "no SOL" concept. However, how can this hold up in court again and again if it is not explicitly defined anywhere? I would appreciate it if someone can provide more information about this including caselaw, if possible. Thanks.

I have a question about medical debt. I have a friend who lives in Broward county, Fort Lauderdale, FL. In early 2003, he had to have surgery in a local hospital there. He didn't have medical insurance at the time. The total charge was $15,000. He was contacted for payment a few months after surgery by a local medical collection firm. He didn't have money to pay. He let this go and he has never made a single payment to this debt nor has he ever been contacted by anyone about this debt again after the initial contact in late 2003. Is there an SOL that applies to medical as well? Can he be sued for this lawsuit even after all these years have gone by? I should mention that he has never been sued for this debt although it does appear on his credit report. Can he still be sued over this debt? Thank you in advance.

Can you give us an update on this?

I am no expert. In fact, I am pretty much in the same position you are in now. Hang in there and vahe faith that better times will come our way. If you do get sued you might get lucky and get a nice judge or hearing officer. One of my friends was sued by CitiBank recently. The judge ordered CitiBank attorneys to provide proof that he actually had an account with them. He wanted to see my friend's signature on it. They CA attorneys responded by telling the judge that they had sent my friend a letter telling him that he had 30 days to dispute the validity of the debt. My friend told the judge that he had sent this letter out to them and never got anything. The lawyers then asked if my friend had a return receipt proving that this letter was indeed received by the CA. My friend's attorney asked the lawyers if they had a receipt proving that my friend had indeed received this dunning letter. The judge interpreted this argument as valid and told them they had 4 days to come up with the proof or the case would be dismissed. They never came up with the proof so the case was dismissed with prejudice.

Can anyone explain to me what the SOL means? What does it mean when a creditor is attempting to collect a debt passed the SOL? Also, what happens when a collection agency buys the debt from a bank you owe money to? Does the debt become the responsibility and ownership of the collection agency? Thanks for your answers.

I have posted several questions in this forum regarding these guys. They are trying to collect $3,600 on behalf of Bank of America (the original credit card debt was $2,500). They continue to call and harass my parents. My mom told me today that they have called 24 times in the past 3 days. After leaving a message with my parents' neighbor and telling him details about the account, their calls continued to my parents' home. Today my dad decided to answer. He says a woman said the following, without even asking who it was who answered "Sir, we will take a settlement for 80% of the balance and we will now do a check over the phone to pay that entire amount of $2,700. I will waive the transaction fee if you are ready to proceed with that payment now. If you decline, we are prepared to take further action which will be a lot more costly to you in the future" My dad then asked "Madam, am I the intended recipient of that message? I am afraid I don't understand what you are talking about." The woman proceeded "Sir, let us not play hide and seek anymore. We need to take care of this matter right away. You owe a total of $3,600 and we are ready to settle for $2,700. Let us do a check by phone now since this option will not be available once this account leaves my desk by the end of the day." My dad insisted that this was not his account. The lady then told her the name on the account, the social security number, the amount owed, the last payment date, etc. My dad then told her that this was not his account and that he was not sure if I had an account with them since I no longer resided at that address. The lady then proceeded "Well, if it is your son's account then I would suggest that you make this payment for him now with me over the phone. You will be saving your son a lot of trouble by taking care of this matter for him. If you have a checkbook ready we can take care of this now." My dad was outraged but he kept his cool. He then said "Madam, I must advise you that I will begin to record this telephone conversation now as well as other future communication from your organization." Immediately after my dad said that the woman hung up the phone and did not call back. My dad said that, to his understanding, you must announce to the party you are speaking with that you will be recording the conversation or else the recording may not be regarded as valid in a court of law. I don’t know whether this is true or not. I don’t know who the hell these Phillips & Cohen guys are but their collection practices certainly leave a lot to be desired. My wife tells me that a few years ago when she was in college they tried to collect $1,000 from her for an account she had with Bank One. They even sent her the dunning letter and a settlement offer. She completely ignored them and she never heard from them again. She said her credit bureau was showing a mark from them but it disappeared about 3 years ago and has not come up again. Guys, I ask of you. Please help me. What do I do with these guys? Should I sue them? Should I ask my parents to sue them? My dad wants to sue them himself because he says that he is sick and tired of the calls and threats and harassment. How should I deal with these people? Should I still DV them after more than 30 days have passed? Should I just wait it out? This debt is still within the SOL. Any advice, expert or otherwise, is welcome and greatly appreciated. I am having trouble sleeping at night because of these incidents. I am afraid the summons for the lawsuit may come in the mail any day now. Thank you so much for your kind efforts and thanks a lot for such a great forum.

Can anybody provide a sample letter? I am sick and tired of them. They keep calling my parents again and again. They really went out of line now by calling their neighbor. How can I get proof of that? What can I do while I am searching for an attorney?