kamran Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Hi everyone, I am new and am currently dealing with a Hospital Bill.My wife and I have no coverage at the moment and she had to make a trip to the hospital about 6 months ago. The bill was 3,000 and we weren't able to pay it because we were unemployed and just getting out of college.Now the PRESENT:CA has been calling me on a regular basis. They called me and were extremely rude and degrading. They spent much of their time on the phone mocking me and my ability to pay the bill. I did some research and called them back. I told them I would be recording our calls and of course they told me that I cannot do that. I insisted that I could because it is completely legal, as long as I inform them. After that they were much nicer. They than proceeded to say they can only take the payment in two separate collections. After repeating my answer many times they agreed to bring the payment down to a 3 month term. I repeated myself some more and than they said they could work with 6 months.I still disagreed to 6 months and now they have sent me a loan extension 'application'.I want to be very careful when filling this out because it asks for the following information which I find possibly dangerous:1.)My Bank Account Number and Institution.2.)The names of two of my relatives.3.)The name of a person who will co sign for me.4.)Personal referencesI am afraid that if i provide the CA with any of that information they may put me in a compromising position by doing things such as levying my bank accounts or forcing the money out of relatives.The 'loan application' finishes off with the following statement;"I authorize (CA name) to contact any third parties as reasonably necessary to effectuate collection of this account"So I am not sure if I should leave all or some of those parts empty. Your help and advice will be very appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morganna Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 IMO nothing good will come from that "loan" They arent extending you anything especially credit but they are getting you to admit to this debt with payment on their terms ... So how is this considered a loan application? *I* would not sign anything like that ..Yikes ...You NEVER want to give any CA any personal info like that especially banking info ...First off who owns this - the hospital or the CA? *I* suggest strongly that you call the hospital asap and request they pull this back from any collection agency that may be collecting for them. Attempt to work with the hospital directly appealing to their self pay department. Explain the situation and how much you can pay and when .. Follow the conversation up with a letter stating any agreement that was made between you and the hospital. If they do pull this back, ask them for a letter confirming they did contact the necessary CAs and collection was to cease and desist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denita Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Do not fill out and return any part of that "loan application"! I agree with Morganna, it is a ruse for you to provide all of your financials and to admit the debt. Once they have your bank account number, they may try to pull out funds anyway. The entire "loan application" sounds like a scam to me. Work with the hospital directly. Do as the previous poster suggests to get the debt pulled from this CA. This must be some form of violation of the FDCPA...maybe someone else with a better knowledge of the statute can say which violation it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unusualsuspect Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 This is a nice way of duping you into giving out personal info... which will be VERY useful when they sue. They will know exactly where you bank, where you work and who to call if they can't collect...DON'T FILL OUT THAT PAPERWORK!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamran Posted November 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 Do not fill out and return any part of that "loan application"! I agree with Morganna, it is a ruse for you to provide all of your financials and to admit the debt. Once they have your bank account number, they may try to pull out funds anyway. The entire "loan application" sounds like a scam to me. Work with the hospital directly. Do as the previous poster suggests to get the debt pulled from this CA. This must be some form of violation of the FDCPA...maybe someone else with a better knowledge of the statute can say which violation it is.Thank you for that advice!If anyone knows what statute this violates please inform me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morganna Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 http://www.creditinfocenter.com/legal/FDCPA.shtmlThe above link is the FDCPA -- looking at it at face value *I* can't see an actual violation however *I* was not privy to the conversation that you had with them. Look the act over paying attention to sections 807 and 808. See if anything might fit there ...A word of caution - nothing is carved in stone regarding violations. They still have to be solid enough to prevail in court or at least be weighted enough to make the violator cave. And the most you could get or use as leverage is $1,000.00 ... as the act is per action not per violation like the FCRA ... Relying on them as an offset sometimes backfires .. Not saying if its solid dont go for it just know the rules of the game.Another place to research is your own state's collection laws. Some state's are super consumer friendly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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