BackFromTheDebt

When The other party is represented by an attorney, one always deals with the attorney; never directly with the other party.

My rule is whenever I hear from a collection agency, I send a DV letter. Always. Especially since there is already a suit.

You should have started your own thread, but the answer to your question is short and sour. Once you have lost the case, and they have filed a wage garnishment, it is too late to do anything. Your employer will take the money out of your wages until the judgment plus interest is paid off. The only exception is if you are judgment proof

ANY purchase or lease will hurt your chances of getting a mortgage, unless your income is high enough and the house cheap enough it doesn't matter. It would probably be best to discuss this with the loan officer at a bank where you plan to get a mortgage. They may not be experts in credit ratings, but they generally know what the rules are as far as what payments you can have with your income and down payment and still get a house for $xxx,xxx dollars. When I bought my house, I had a clunker I had paid $1500 cash for. It was a piece of crap, and didn't really fit everyone in my family. But, having a clunker and no car payments made it possible to buy my house. Then, after buying the house, we got a minivan that DID fit everyone in the family. However, buying the house meant worse financing for the car. Such is life. You may have to decide which is more important to you -- the house or the car. For me it was the house.

They can't report it because they are no longer representing the animal hospital. They could report a disputed debt under federal law, as long as it is marked disputed. Not sure about Michigan law. What this means is the account has been sent back to the hospital. I don't know why. They won't tell you why, and you will probably never know. It might be that this particular collection agency won't work with disputed debts. Some do, others do not. Generally, a collection agency gets a commission from whatever money they can collect. If you are not going to pay anything, there is nothing to collect, so no commission. Since the account is now a waste of time for them, they sent it back to the hospital. Take whatever disputes you have with the account to the hospital. You won't have any dealing with the collection agency again, unless you decide to sue them.

Basically, forget #1 unless they left out something that is required. #1 is similar to the FDCPA. For example, if the initial communication is a phone call, they MUST send a letter within 5 days. That is both federal and Michigan law. The Michigan law adds they must put in the date of the phone call. If the first communication is a letter, just make sure they have everything in #1 in their letter. As far as the SECOND communication, if they did NOT include anything in #2, they are in violation. I have not seen their letter, but my impression is they did NOT include all the information required in #2. In which case, they are in violation of Michigan law. The fact they are in violation of Michigan law may or may not be usable in negotiating a debt settlement with them. Or, it could be a standalone state law suit whereby you sue them.

Interesting point. However, for any kind of medical debt, one cannot assume a judge will call a medical debt a consumer debt for purposes of the FDCPA. First, there is the precedence of many medical debts being considered business debts for BK purposes. Second, as we have seen time and time again, judges often do whatever the he!! they want to do, often ignoring law or even Supreme Court decisions. I would agree that a vet debt SHOULD be considered a consumer debt. I don't know of any case law that explicitly says it is consumer debt, so tread carefully.

From the NOLO web site: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/consumer-non-consumer-debts-bankruptcy-means-test.html THAT is where I got "that nonsense". I agree it is nonsense, but judges call it business debt rather than consumer debt. If you got that one wrong, then how certain can anyone be that your assertion that vet bills are consumer debt is correct? I would think they are, but it would be extremely careless to claim vet bills are consumer debt without any case law to back it up.

That is CMRRR. Good for you. I really don't know if vet debts are considered consumer debts or not. For some strange reason, necessary human medical debts are NOT considered consumer debts. They are business debts. I don't understand the logic. However, cosmetic surgery is considered consumer debt. It is possible that vet debts are also not considered consumer debts. But your local court might think they are. Courts don't always agree. For example, some courts consider student loans to be consumer debts, while others do not. If the vet debts are consumer debts, then they have violated the FDCPA by continuing to collect after your DV letter. If not, then they haven't violated consumer laws. The law seems to be a bit grey in this point, unless there is case law I can't find easily with Google. What does that mean? You are liable for vet bills. If you believe your dog's death was a result of malpractice, then you have a counterclaim of malpractice, which could wipe out the debt and maybe they would have to pay you. However, the burden is on you to show malpractice. The fact that they didn't send you the bill before going to collections is a horrible business practice, but they haven't broken any laws by doing so. If the local court thinks this is a consumer debt, then you have a claim against the collection agency. Generally, if you get a bill, you have a certain amount of time to contest the bill. They cannot sue you for account stated if they never sent the bill, though. They CAN sue you for not paying vet services. What would I do in your shoes? Well, I wouldn't pay a bill when I have never even seen the bill. If they won't send you a copy of the bill, you have no way of knowing if the charges are valid. I wouldn't pay them. You asked for the bill, and never got it. You could call them or send them a letter saying you won't pay a bill you have never seen. If I were in your shoes I might call up the vet and ask them why you are getting dunned by a collection agency for a bill you never received. They might say they won't deal with you because it is in collections, but they might actually work with you. It is possible they really did deliver $5000 in services, doing the best they could to save the life of your pet, but it was hopeless. They certainly have at least a moral obligation to work with you on this. At some point this might go to an attorney. It is doubtful the collection agency would sue you, but the vet might. Which is why I suggested talking directly to the vet's office. But a bill is crucial. I have refused to pay when I haven't gotten an itemized statement. To the extent that I walked away from $60-70k in debts from a major bank that never was able to send me any proof I actually owed money.

Yeah, they could put it on your credit report. If it is false, you can dispute with the CRAs, and if you really believe this is false, you could file a suit against the collection agency for FCRA violations if they report falsely. This is NOT easy to do. But then, maybe they won't put it on your credit report. I don't know exactly what was in the letter you sent them. I hope you sent it CMRRR, and I hope you kept a copy. If what you wrote amounts to a DV letter, and they didn't validate but continued to collect anyway, they could be liable for a violation of the FDCPA. You need to prove it, though.

I disagree with this one. Unless the OP started in arbitration before the case was filed. It is doubtful that a MTD would be granted, while an MTC would probably be granted, unless the judge ignores the law. One possibility is a combination of: 1. An answer, with lack of venue as an affirmative defense 2. A MTD for improper venue, and 3. An MTC. The idea is if the MTD is not granted (and it almost certainly won't be), the MTC is filed as an alternative to the MTD. I wouldn't file a second MTD, though, at least not as a standalone filing.

Normally, it is NOT too late if you have not already filed an answer. The only restriction I can find is they cannot use arbitration in small claims, but you can. File an MTC along with your answer, and include an affirmative defense of improper venue. Realize that some judges just do whatever they feel like doing, no matter what the law actually says.

Well, this is kinda what you expected, and have been preparing for. In general, the best approach is a general denial with an affirmative defense of improper venue due to arbitration, along with the MTC, filed as your answer. File it a few days before the due date, just in case something weird happens. Filing a claim of an FDCPA violation due to ignoring your arbitration demand (NOT a request! A demand!) is possible. People here will tell you, correctly, that there is no case law that filing the court case really is an FDCPA violation. But, in SOME cases, it can help to scare them away from arbitration. Other times it doesn't help. File in JAMS after your MTC is approved. This being a JDB, the chances of them agreeing to a mutual walkaway after you file in JAMS are better. There is no 100% sure thing, but your chances are pretty good.

The ONLY time I sent something in the mail but forgot to send it CMRRR was to an attorney who claimed never to haze gotten it. That is why I asked. In your case, I would resend everything to the court. Better still, deliver it by hand if at all possible. Include a notarized statement that you mailed everything earlier, and when you mailed it.

Your post is very confusing. Who did not get the documents? What documents were they? Were these documents sent by regular mail or email? If sent by regular mail, were they sent CMRRR?