szn_cwn Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 About 3 yrs ago my parents were arrested in the middle of the night. The charge was for non payment of medical bills (thats what the sheriff told them). There was no court order as far as a judgement. The only thing they were asked to do by the hospital that had them arrested was to fill out some sort of debtors ability to pay questionaire. Now my parents have an arrest record, they have never been in trouble before, they have always been law abiding citizens. This has caused my mother alot of emotional distress, my father can't remember because he has alzhiemer. And the hospital is stilling harrasing them, my mother is afraid of being taken back to jail because she can only send them $60 per month. My parents live in Oregon, if that makes a difference. Is there something they can do? I thought debtors jail was outlawed in this country? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 There are no debtors prisons...I suspect there's a lot more to the story than what you've told us. The sheriff doesn't just show up in the middle of the night and take people off to jail for medical bills...Was there a collection agency involved? Any court appearances at all?Simply doesn't compute...sorry... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
szn_cwn Posted May 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 I didn't think it made sense either. From what my mother told me there was no collection agency involved. My father had, a few months prior, been diagnosed with dementia. There was no hearing or court appearance requested or on file, that was my first thought was the warrant was a failure to appear or something like that. And the warrant was issued for non payment of a medical debt owed to X hospital. My mother said that even the sheriff was confused, and had called the county it originated from to ask if it was necessary to arrest my parents, but whomever the sheriff spoke to said to take them to jail. My sister had to bail them out of jail. So I'm not sure what was going on. Should my parents bring there documents to an attorney or is this something to just leave alone and forget about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 oh HELL YES they should!!!!!!!There is no reason anyone should be arrested unless they actually didnt show for a court date and there was already a judgment.Then if they were sued in a county in which they didn't live or sign the contract... thats ANOTHER HUGE violation of the FDCPA.You have so so so many actual damages now that this hospital (And their CA if they have one) might be begging you not to file suit.Please please please go to your local courthouse and look up your parents name. If there are no court cases then you need to go to the other county.If there isnt one there... find an attorney ASAP!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
szn_cwn Posted May 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 Thank you Sky. I will look that up. Its just sad my mother is worried sick and my dad just well isn't there so to speak. My mom is in her mid 50's dad late 60's and I worry about them. They already have nothing, when my dad got sick they lost everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghacorp Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 You did not mention the state where this occured however certain states like IL have what's known as body attachments whereby people can be arrested for failure to disclose assets in medical billing cases. It is legal and is not in violation of FDCPA statutes insofar as hospitals are concerned. Apparently hospitals in affected states are going broke due to what they consider willfull neglect in users of the facilities attempting to walk away from hospital debts. Usually there are court appearances that have been missed, thus the capias. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocDon Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 Could there have been a debtor's review that was missed and the court issued the warrant? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devil21 Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 There could be a fraud aspect involved that would make it a criminal matter. Just something to keep in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impudence Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Something is still not right here. You said they have an arrest record now. What were they charged with? What happened after they were bailed out. There is a major part of this story missing. The only thing I could fathom them being arrested for is accidently passing a bad chack to the hospital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocDon Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 If the court ordered them to appear to declare their assets, and they failed to show, then the judge (getting this from an earlier post on the same topic) can order a warrant for their arrest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
szn_cwn Posted May 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Sorry it took me so long to reply. Ok from what my mother has told me: 1. she appeared and complied with a debtors review prior to being arrested. She said they raised concerns at the review about a car she had sold several months before, they wanted to know why the entire amount she sold the car for wasn't applied to the medical bill only. She had split the amount she recieved from the car to pay for many bills, and she provided proof of what bills and amounts. She paid on her house to keep from foreclosure, she paid something to the IRS, some other small bills, and a portion to the medical bill in question. The medical bills are in excess of $20,000.2. she didn't pass a bad check.3. there was no question of fraud brought to her attention.4. and then they were arrested in the middle of the night. The sheriff had an arrest warrant for "non payment of medical bills".5. she said she had been in contact with the hospital prior to the arrest, trying to get more time to pay because they were waiting for my fathers disability/SS to come through. He could no longer work at the time, in fact his drivers license was revoked, etc. At the time they had no other assests, my father when he worked had company stock that would have been for retirement, I'm not sure what happened exactly but before he had to stop working the stock droped and they lost alot of money and never recovered, that had happened about 5 yrs ago.My mom said she never recieved any other summons or notices for a court appearance besides the debtors review she had appeared for. And she says that the warrant specifically said for non payment of a medical bill.I hope this helps clarifies the situation better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghacorp Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Call the Oregon AG's office and they should be able to explain legal procedures in that state. Maybe they can even resolve the matter over the phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanathos Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Most states have what are called body attachments. The sheriff's department isn't going to come and arrest someone for not paying a bill--there had to be a bench warrant issued for failure to appear--there's no other way around it.How the proceeds for a sold automobile are completely irrelevant unless there was a lien attached to the car at the time of sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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