Statute of Limitations (Medical)

[fuzzybean]

The medical debt was from VA, but now I'm in IL.  Date opened says "9/2006" on EQ and EX.  TU is another story/post.  The balance date says 9/2012 for EQ and 12/2007 for EX.  At any rate, am I beyond the statute of limitations on this?  I am so sick of fighting American Collections.  I've been using the validation tactic and even though they have not validated it, they continue to report it.  I'm wondering if I can try the statute of limitations tactic now.

If you're wondering why it wasn't included in our BK, it's because it showed up just a couple years ago and I'm been fighting them ever since (well only really aggressive the past six months).  They have never called, emailed or sent anything to me.  They did not validate the debt when I sent them a DV letter.  The CRA say it's valid.  I don't even get that and yes, I know I need to send them letters as well.  When I contacted the doctor's office about it, they acknowledged I paid them but not until after it was sent to collections.  They claim it's out of their hands.  Maybe it is at this point. 

[Shogun]

According to your post you are beyond the SOL of Virginia, however that does not stop them from reporting, just means that they can't sue you.  What you can do is notify them that the debt is beyond the SOL and offer them a PFD using this fact.  That may prompt them to settle since they have no other recourse to collect. 

[fuzzybean]

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@Shogun wrote:

According to your post you are beyond the SOL of Virginia, however that does not stop them from reporting, just means that they can't sue you.  What you can do is notify them that the debt is beyond the SOL and offer them a PFD using this fact.  That may prompt them to settle since they have no other recourse to collect. 

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I am not paying a debt I do not owe.  They are already aware they are beyond the SOL and on top of that they have failed to validate the debt.  I don't get how they can get away with reporting something they can't validate.  It just makes my blood boil.

[Shogun]

So as I take it you have already paid the OC but the CA is still trying to collect.  You have contacted the OC and they say it is out of their hands.  That is wrong.  If they accepted payment it is "THIER" responsibility to contact the CA that the bill is paid.

[fuzzybean]

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@Shogun wrote:

So as I take it you have already paid the OC but the CA is still trying to collect.  You have contacted the OC and they say it is out of their hands.  That is wrong.  If they accepted payment it is "THIER" responsibility to contact the CA that the bill is paid.

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I'm not sure what OC means, but I assume it means original creditor?  I agree, it's totally wrong, but I'm not sure what else to do about it.

[Shogun]

Yes.. That is what OC means.   Ok..   Were it me.   I would once again contact the OC and tell them the bill has been paid to them.  If it were "Out of their hands" then they would not have been able to accept the payment.  I would tell them I immediately want them to contact the CA and inform them that this has been paid.

[scarrollprint]

I would do the following Call the doctors office/hospital that you had the debt from.

Have them mail/fax/email a statment of your account. If they accepted payment and credited to that debt/copay/whatever it was for; then they are responsible for letting the collection agency know its been paid.

If they sold the debt to the collection agency and they STILL took payment then thats a whole other can of worms as once they sell the debt, the don't own it and thus really have no right to collect on it.

They can't really say "its out of our hands" if its been paid and hasn't been SOLD to another agency. They can retract the collection at any time.

Once you get a statment showing on X date you paid in full all amount owed. Write a formal dispute the the CRA that it is on to send in via snail mail not via online. Include the statement with the date/amount highlighted. Include in the letter that you paid the origional creditor and also include a copy of your CR that shows they are activly trying to collect this same debt. ANd circle those dates that prove they are reporting AFTER it was already paid.

If its still denied I'd call the doctor again and ask them to retract the collections. If they say "its out of their hands again" then tell them you'll be demanding a return of your money since you will need to pay the CA and not them and that if you can only pay the CA then they recieved payment for services that were not rendered. That should get them to change their mindset quickly

[GregB]

+1

If they sold the debt, they couldn't have accepted payment. If the CA was collecting for them, they should have notified them. The doctor office just doesn't want to spend their time on this.

However, if you paid them after it was sent to collections, you may just end up with the collection showing "paid".

[fuzzybean]

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@Shogun wrote:

Yes.. That is what OC means.   Ok..   Were it me.   I would once again contact the OC and tell them the bill has been paid to them.  If it were "Out of their hands" then they would not have been able to accept the payment.  I would tell them I immediately want them to contact the CA and inform them that this has been paid.

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This bill was paid before it ever went to collections.  I was told it was sent to collections in error and they apologized.  How nice... 

[fuzzybean]

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@scarrollprint wrote:

I would do the following Call the doctors office/hospital that you had the debt from.

Have them mail/fax/email a statment of your account. If they accepted payment and credited to that debt/copay/whatever it was for; then they are responsible for letting the collection agency know its been paid.

If they sold the debt to the collection agency and they STILL took payment then thats a whole other can of worms as once they sell the debt, the don't own it and thus really have no right to collect on it.

They can't really say "its out of our hands" if its been paid and hasn't been SOLD to another agency. They can retract the collection at any time.

Once you get a statment showing on X date you paid in full all amount owed. Write a formal dispute the the CRA that it is on to send in via snail mail not via online. Include the statement with the date/amount highlighted. Include in the letter that you paid the origional creditor and also include a copy of your CR that shows they are activly trying to collect this same debt. ANd circle those dates that prove they are reporting AFTER it was already paid.

If its still denied I'd call the doctor again and ask them to retract the collections. If they say "its out of their hands again" then tell them you'll be demanding a return of your money since you will need to pay the CA and not them and that if you can only pay the CA then they recieved payment for services that were not rendered. That should get them to change their mindset quickly

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I've tried that.  Supposedly their files aren't accessible anymore because it's been so long.  I think they are just too lazy.  At the end of the day, the CA cannot validate the darn debt and it should be removed.  I shouldn't have to jump through hoops. 

Can they retract collections when it's not the original CA agency anymore?  American Collections is not the collection agency they use...not now and not then.