qbert 139 Posted July 9, 2018 Report Share Posted July 9, 2018 hi guys, its been awhile,thanks for all the help in the past I've been keeping my stuff reasonably straight, i had some medical bills that got late and went to collections. i paid the principal balance but refused the additional fees they tacked on "fees and interest" which to my understanding there is no basis for such per the original payment agreements with the medical providers is there a standard form to request them to present the original contract that authorizes them to collect fees on overdue accts? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Harry Seaward 1,356 Posted July 9, 2018 Report Share Posted July 9, 2018 Have you read the agreement and know for certain there is no interest on collection accounts? Medical providers can charge interest if it's in the agreement. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
qbert 139 Posted July 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2018 i called the billing office at the doctor and they said they do not charge interest, they did not provide me the agreement however Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Harry Seaward 1,356 Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 If they said they don't charge interest, what was their explanation for charging you interest? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Clydesmom 1,222 Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 1 hour ago, qbert said: i called the billing office at the doctor and they said they do not charge interest, they did not provide me the agreement however Ask for a copy of the financial guarantee. Often there is a clause in it that states if they have to send it to collections then 18% interest and collection fees are the patient's responsibility. If there is no such clause in there then you have no legal obligation to pay the added charges. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
qbert 139 Posted July 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 They said there is no payment agreement and no financial guarantee Shall i prompt the collection agency for a copy of the contract that authorizes them to collect interest? anybody have a template? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Harry Seaward 1,356 Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 1 hour ago, qbert said: Shall i prompt the collection agency for a copy of the contract that authorizes them to collect interest? Yes. 1 hour ago, qbert said: anybody have a template? Just ask them who/what authorized them to collect interest. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
qbert 139 Posted July 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 ok i guess a formal letter w/CMRR is in order? or should i just drop it and let them respond Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Harry Seaward 1,356 Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 It's your call. It could potentially be an FDCPA violation if they insist they can charge it but it's not in the agreement, so a paper trail wouldn't be a bad idea. What did the medical provider have to say about the interest? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
qbert 139 Posted July 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 they were kinda ignorant, just said, "We sent it off to collections, like we always do" none of the bills from the provider, even the late ones, had any fees or interest Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Clydesmom 1,222 Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 10 hours ago, qbert said: Shall i prompt the collection agency for a copy of the contract that authorizes them to collect interest? Yes. Who did you pay the actual past due amount(s) to? If it was the provider I would send a simple letter stating that the outstanding balance was paid to [medical office] on [date] and there is no longer an outstanding debt. After careful research with the billing manager [name] you have determined that the provider does not charge interest and fees for accounts sent to collections and you are not legally obligated to pay this amount. I consider the debt paid in full to the provider and any fees they are seeking are not my financial responsibility. Any further attempts to collect these added amounts will result in litigation for deceptive business practices, fraud, and violation of the FDCPA. They should go away. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JennCreditNow 0 Posted June 4, 2020 Report Share Posted June 4, 2020 My question is if I write to the collection agency, and keep in mind, this is years after the actual medical collection has been reported on my credit report, asking for any of the following: -The contract of the original creditor -A debt validation, asking for the original creditor and how to contact them -Since I have paid none of these collections, is my contacting them, the collection agency or the original creditor, in any way, have the ability to move the date of last activity to the present day & restart the 7 years? Currently I have about 5+ years into the 7 year amount, however; if them trying to collect interest & fees that were not allowed, could that make the debt invalid, since they misrepresented the debt amount? Thank so much! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Clydesmom 1,222 Posted June 4, 2020 Report Share Posted June 4, 2020 50 minutes ago, JennCreditNow said: My question is if I write to the collection agency, and keep in mind, this is years after the actual medical collection has been reported on my credit report, asking for any of the following: -The contract of the original creditor -A debt validation, asking for the original creditor and how to contact them -Since I have paid none of these collections, is my contacting them, the collection agency or the original creditor, in any way, have the ability to move the date of last activity to the present day & restart the 7 years? Currently I have about 5+ years into the 7 year amount, however; if them trying to collect interest & fees that were not allowed, could that make the debt invalid, since they misrepresented the debt amount? Thank so much! Please start your own thread so that your questions do not get mixed up with the original post. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JennCreditNow 0 Posted June 4, 2020 Report Share Posted June 4, 2020 Sorry, new here, thanks for the heads up:) Quote Link to post Share on other sites