When Is Enough Enough?

A reader of my blog, a copy of which appeared on Open Salon commented as follows:
"I received a call back in June about a medical bill that I had not paid to Toledo Hospital for services provided. The person that called me could barely speak English, so I asked them if they were outside the US. I was surprised when the representative, John, told me he was calling from Costa Rica. The collector worked for a company called United Collection Bureau and told me they are contracted by ProMedica Health System to collect for Toledo Hospital.

I asked John to tell me what procedure the bill was for. I was placed on hold and then was amazed to find that they actually had the information. I am in shock that my medical records are being handled in a 3rd world country. I believe this is a violation of the law, but I'm not certain. I was also told that the collection agency, regardless of where they are, should not have access to the actual procedure.

I went online and found a website for United Collection Bureau. There is a list of offices that does not include Costa Rica. I called and asked if they has an office there and was passed around until someone said no. I called back to John's extension and asked him to confirm. He confirmed that he is in Costa Rica and receives his pay from United Collection Bureau. John knew the president of the company’s name, that the company is based in Ohio, and said that he was willing to cooperate because he understood my anger. I was transferred to an American, I believe in Costa Rica, that basically told me to pay my bill or they would send me to legal.

I asked the American woman to give me her name and she hung up. I called John back the next day and he told me he could no longer speak with me; that they had threatened to fire him and he really needs the job.

I'm not out to get a young man working hard in another country fired, so I stopped calling. I did call ProMedica, who claims they had no idea and would investigate. That was back in June. Since then I have received over 20 more calls from people obviously not in America, but unwilling to tell me where they are.

Is this legal?

Deb Webber
August 17,2009"

My question to you Deb would be why are you allowing the phone calls? If this is your debt have they properly validated that fact? Did you ask them in writing by certified mail to validate the debt? If these people are calling you and refusing to properly identify themselves you should serve them with a cease and desist letter my certified mail.

It is a violation of the FDCPA for debt collectors to call you and not properly identify themselves or falsify their identities. Is also a violation for them to refuse to tell you where they are calling from. If you can document any of what you are saying I would suggest contacting the National Association of Consumer Advocates and getting a recommendation for an attorney.

Debt collectors are not permitted to repeatedly call you during any one day. This is also a violation of the FDCPA. For starters I would opt in on the upper right side of this web page and download my validation letter and the audio instructions.

What You Need To Know Is Not Always So Obvious

I get a lot of email and posts about Fredericks, Goldstein & Zoe. The fact is that these low lives are really not the kind of debt collectors you should worry about, that is if you are educated and know your rights. Unfortunately, I have found a lot of people do not know what their rights are when it comes to dealing with debt collectors and this what gets them into major trouble. The debt collectors you need to be wary of are those who use the judicial system to their advantage because they know in many cases or the majority cases that most of you out there don't have a clue about what to do. Their approach is to just flat out sue you.

In this process they are betting that you won't even file an appearance or answer the summons and complaint. A perusal of state judicial websites is replete with numerous legal corpses of consumers who received default judgments because they did not lift a finger to defend themselves. I am in the process of compiling an in depth listing for all of the 50 states and sharing with my readers what resources are available in each state in the event you need to answer a complaint and wish to do so without an attorney.

Even if you use an attorney it is wise to educate yourself on the civil procedures in your respective state. As Jack Ryan said to Captain Ramius in "The Hunt For Red October", "It is wise to know the ways of one's adversary..." Don't you agree? So the question I want to pose is what is the quickest way to figure out the possibility of whether you may or may not be sued?

Certain debt collectors operate without any license so they don't sue anyone. These are shake down artists. The Fredericks firm mentioned above is one such example. But others are quite legal and have registered to conduct business as debt collectors. They may skirt the law but unfortunately they get away with it more often than not.

If a debt collector is threatening to sue you (if they make such statements are just blowing air it is a violation of the FDCPA) there is a quick and easy way to find out if they are suing anyone else or if they have ever sued anyone. I will use New York State's judicial site as the example for purposes of illustration.

Here is a sample for just Bronx County, New York for cases open with Unifund as Plaintiff for just 2009:

As you can see if Unifund says that are going to sue you you had better believe it. The good news is that they cannot validate debts in court. They come up with phoney affidavits, fake statements etc. which is no way satisfy what the courts have defined as validation. See my other blogs. Also please go to the upper right hand corner of this blog opt to download my free validation letter and my audio instructions on how to use it.

So hopefully I have shed some light on some subject matter which I find is troublesome to many. Don't forget to grab my free validation letter and audio and watch for a free checklist which will be available to all of you who sign up (opt in). Until next time.