Being Sued for medical debt I had no idea I had

[tramdoof]

On my fico sorce under public records, there lists a entry for a medical bill that I had no idea was still outstanding. The surgery took place in 2006. I believed we paid in full. Yesterday I recieved a call from a debt collector saying I still owed 1000 on the surgery and that it has been in collections since 2009. This is the first I have ever heard of it. I'm responsible for not looking at my credit score carefulyl but i just wasn't expecting some like this to happen.  What do I do? I have no idea where to start. I can pay the debt I just don't think it is still outstanding and the surgery was so long ago I just don't remember. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[guiness56]

Welcome to the forums.

A public record is a judgment.  That would mean someone sued you and won.  Are you sure it isn't a collection?

I would first send the CA a DV letter.  It puts a cease collections bar in place.  Simple and to the point.  "I found this account ___________on my credit report you say I owe.  Please validate per FDCPA 809"   Send it CMRRR.

Then call the the hospital and find out if there are outstanding bills.  Keep in mind when you have surgery there are many different sections involved.  Anesthesia, physicians, etc, that do not necessarily fall under the hospital billing department,.

[tramdoof]

It's listed under a public record on my credit report. It has a court number and case number and a plantiff. it says it was filed 4 years ago, but I had no idea it happened.

[kjel]

You likely had what is called a "default judgment". CAs in some states don't have a very heavy lift when it comes to serving people notice to appear in court. They can serve you via regular mail and call it good. It's likely you can file a "motion to vacate default judgment"  based on lack of service and get it removed but you are still in the position where you can be sued again by the CA/OC.

[tramdoof]

Thank you. I just sent our request to the court for a copy of the file. We were living in a different state when  the case was filed. 

[tramdoof]

I just read that oregon has a 1 year limitation on vacated judgements by default. Well there goes that. I guess our only option is to pay it?

[guiness56]

CAs don't serve court papers. The attorney handling the case can have them served.  It depends on your state laws whether they were served properly or not.  So far, I have yet to see where any state allows service via regular mail.

[InvincibleSummer3]

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@tramdoof wrote:

Thank you. I just sent our request to the court for a copy of the file. We were living in a different state when  the case was filed. 

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Where would the mail have gone? Service by mail is possible in Oregon, but someone would have had to sign for it to be valid. Is there anyone that would have been at that address who might have signed the return receipt?

[Flying_Spaghetti_Monster]

It pays to be aggressive with the debt collectors. 

I had a utility bill I forgot to pay when I moved to another state, and the final bill was never forwarded to me.  2 years later, a collection account shows up on my credit. They never successfully contacted me before they handed it over to the company.

I paid it, for sure, for a reduced rate but I got them to put it in writing that they would remove the collection from my credit reports.  They did.  Stupid me, but hey, no harm done in the end!