I_Hate_RMA Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 First, a little history... (I'll try to keep it short)Between Nov 2003 and April 2004, RMA kept pulling hard inquiries on my credit report, but no account was listed from them; I had never even heard of them. I sent them a letter asking what their permissible purpose was; within a week the inquiries were gone, and in their place was a collection account simply called "medical". I sent a DV letter to them in may, they verified the debt... two hospital bills from 2000, about $700 total. I sent a letter offering to settle, they served me with a summons and complaint. Nice folks. Since these jackasses never even sent me a bill (other than the one they HAD to send me due to the DV letter), I called the hospital and paid them directly, in full, prior to this ever going to court. Filed my answer to the summons stating the bill was paid to the OC. This was on August 31, 2004.They never reported the collection accounts as paid, and I never pursued it. All was quiet from them until October when I got a call from them wanting to discuss the balance of my account. I told her there was no balance. She said there was court costs and attorney fees; I told her that it never went to court so there were no court costs.Again, not a word from them. No bills, nothing.On May 26, 2005, I was served with a writ of garnishment based on a default judgment that was entered against me on March 31, 2005. Within a week they had garnished me for $400 to cover the initial court costs from the initial summons, and included legal fees for the judgment.I was never notified about the judgment until 56 days after the court date that I knew nothing about. I filed a motion to vacate with the court, with an explanation of why I failed to appear. Heard back last week from the court; they refuse to hear my case and the judgement stands. No reason given.You cannot believe how pissed off I am. NONE of this would have been necessary if RMA would have simply sent a bill telling me I owed more than I already paid. I have documentation going back to day 1 with these people, but it's not doing me any good. These morons used the legal system to bully and manipulate me, and it worked... they wound up with more money than they should have received and all the hard work I put into cleaning up my credit last year is now completely screwed up due to the judgment.I am out the money - I don't care about that. It's the principal of the thing. RMA plays dirty.So here we are today, I have a judgment listed on my CR from March 31, 2005. It has been paid in full for almost a month now, and there is no notation that it has been paid in full or satisfied on my CR. To rub salt in the wound, RMA is still reporting the two collection accounts as unpaid.My scores tanked from around 700 to 620 because of this. I need to get this cleaned up as I want to get a new car soon. My questions are these...How long after a judgment is satisfied does RMA have to report it as paid?They (RMA) have a local office... should I just show up with my pile of documentation and demand they provide me with letters stating that ALL accounts have been paid in full? At least I could send those to the CRAs to get the stuff listed properly. Or, should I dispute through the CRAs as not mine, etc, and hope they get deleted? I've disputed RMA before, and they always verified. The quicker the end to all this, the better.Is it too soon to start disputing the judgment? Do the CRAs keep a history of disputes and/or requests? For example, if I send them proof that the judgement is satisfied, and then turn around and dispute as not mine, will they catch I have already said it was mine my stating it was satisfied?Sorry for the long story and all the questions, but I am feeling really buried right now and I have nowhere to turn. An attorney won't touch it... not enough $$ involved, and the court system let me down in a big way.Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codename_fortyseven Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 If you can't vacate it, see if you can appeal it. I'd demand to know exactly what court costs and atty's fees they incurred, with an itemized billing. Dispute the collection accounts an see what comes back. Could be FCRA violations there if they are verified.If you want to get back at them, take them to court. Sounds like a lot of false/misleading or mischaracterizing the amount of the debt. Are atty's fees/court costs permitted in the agreement you have with the hospital?I would say a "reasonable" amount of time, which is probably 30-60 days for the TL's to be reporting correctly. The CRA's DO keep a history of your disputes. If you send them proof of the judgement, then dispute as not mine, I don't think you'll have a lot of success. I wouldn't be content to have a judgement and 2 collections on my credit report for the next 2 years, personally. I'd be firing back with whatever I could find as far as FCRA/FDCPA violations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breathing_easier Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 I_Hate_RMA: Welcome to the CIC. If I'm understanding correctly, RMA acknowledged that the amount of the original demand had been paid by you, but they wanted to also be reimbursed for their court costs and attorney fees. Out of curiosity, did you ever receive notice of the court hearing date (after you filed your Answer to the Summons and Complaint)? If you haven't already done so, you need to pull the court's file and see what transpired. Unfortunately, and it's a hard lesson, I know, you can't rely on written or verbal communications with the plaintiff (or lack thereof) to resolve a dispute once you've been served with a Summons and Complaint. Everything must be done through the court. Once you've been served with a Summons and Complaint you have to become very proactive and monitor the case closely to make sure there's no "funny business" on the part of the plaintiff. Many courts have online dockets so that you can monitor pleadings that have been filed, hearing dates, etc. "No news is good news" does not apply once you've been sued. If it makes you feel any better, at least anyone reading this who has been served with a Summons and Complaint won't make the same mistake. I'm not being judgmental as I certainly made my share of mistakes when it came to my credit! Did RMA purchase the account from the hospital, or were they a collection agency acting on behalf of the hospital? That is important to know as far as the reporting on your credit reports.It is not too early to begin disputing the judgment with the CRAs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I_Hate_RMA Posted July 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Thanks for the replies.While I would LOVE to give RMA a taste of their own medicine, another part of me just wants all this to go away. I forgot to mention that the judgment is listed for the wrong amount on my CR. It's listed as the $700 that I had paid to the hospital, not the $400 that the judgment was for. Should I start disputing with "not mine" or should I start with "wrong amount"?They say I was served via US Mail. Never got anything. Most other correspondence from RMA has been CMRR... I don't think it was accidental that the notice of the court date was not sent CMRR. I have been at the same address for 2 years.Vacating the judgment is not an option as the court already said No. Only option is to appeal, and I have no idea how to go about doing that.I wonder... Would listing the judgment as paid in full and adding a consumer statement to my CR help at all? Does adding a comsumer statement do any good whatsoever?I do not know whether RMA purchased the debt or not. All I know is they claim they got it in Oct 2003, and then they sat on it - never sent a bill of any type. The first I heard the details of the debt was when I sent them a DV letter in May 2004.Basically, I am screwed... but if this thread helps anyone else out there, at least that gives me some satisfaction. Basically, folks, watch out for RMA... they play dirty. Hell, I am the one who appproached them about paying the bill... it couldn't have been easier for them, yet look at the lengths they went to to be sneaky and uncooperative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codename_fortyseven Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Consumer statements are worthless. Check with your appeals court on how to appeal a bad decision. Giving RMA a taste of their own medicine is a good way to make this go away. Letters and phone calls typically don't do it. If the judgement is reporting incorrectly, dispute, get it verified, and sue. Make sure everything is documented. You aren't screwed. Start costing them money and see how cooperative they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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