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Question about dealing with a debt collection agency

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Tommy2000GT said:
There is no wage garnishment for medical bills. Dumbass.
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Here, they take your state tax return if you get one. Might want to make sure you don't.

Costs are insane. Mom was at the hospital for ~6hrs, out patient, $19K was the hospital's part. Plus the doctors costs.
 
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Genx87 said:
TiVo wont collect their own debts. They sell it to a collection agency.
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Right, which is what happened. But it applies to collection agencies as well. It's just not worth filing a complaint and having someone show up in court for a couple hundred bucks. I'm not sure what court fees are like these days but figure it's probably going to be between $50 and $100 at least just to file and have process served. That's money they don't get back even if they win. Now add in the cost of sending someone into court, even if it's not a lawyer. It's a cost/benefit analysis - usually. But if it's a vendor that regularly has people who try to stiff them, then there's a good chance that either they'll have someone on staff or retainer specifically to deal with deadbeats.
 
Charmonium said:
Right, which is what happened. But it applies to collection agencies as well. It's just not worth filing a complaint and having someone show up in court for a couple hundred bucks. I'm not sure what court fees are like these days but figure it's probably going to be between $50 and $100 at least just to file and have process served. That's money they don't get back even if they win. Now add in the cost of sending someone into court, even if it's not a lawyer. It's a cost/benefit analysis - usually. But if it's a vendor that regularly has people who try to stiff them, then there's a good chance that either they'll have someone on staff or retainer specifically to deal with deadbeats.
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The collection agencies will show up in court for far less. The court fee's are paid by the party that loses(at least in MN, I'd assume this is universal). And the agent that shows up in court schedules dozens of cases in a day. They go back to back to back until the case load is done. Part of the cost of doing business. I would be awfully surprised if a collection agency with a legitimate claim would just give up. This is their job afterall.

You may want to check your credit to make sure there isnt an outstanding judgement against you waiting to be served 😉
 
Tommy2000GT said:
Not with the hospital she went to.

http://www.sutterhealth.org/communitybenefit/caring-for-uninsured.html

How does it feel to be a Dumbass?
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You said, "There is no wage garnishment for medical bills. Dumbass."

That is 100% false. If the particular hospital that your deadbeat SO went to chooses not to seek wage garnishment for reimbursement, that is their decision. This policy, however, has no bearing on the fact that there IS MOST DEFINITELY wage garnishment for medical bills.
 
Genx87 said:
The collection agencies will show up in court for far less. The court fee's are paid by the party that loses(at least in MN, I'd assume this is universal). And the agent that shows up in court schedules dozens of cases in a day. They go back to back to back until the case load is done. Part of the cost of doing business. I would be awfully surprised if a collection agency with a legitimate claim would just give up. This is their job afterall.

You may want to check your credit to make sure there isnt an outstanding judgement against you waiting to be served 😉
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That hasn't been my experience. Like I said earlier, this isn't something I make a habit of so I'm willing to admit that maybe I've been the exception but I don't really believe that.

As far as court costs, the American Rule is that each party pays their own costs and fees. I know that's the rule in NJ. Some states may have modified that rule for certain types of cases but I don't know. There are public policy reasons for doing it this way. Specifically, if a person suing has to try to predict the outcome of a case and be virtually certain of success, then far fewer suits will be filed.

That may seem like a good thing until you realize that new law is often made by courts deciding unique cases. It would also have a chilling effect on the exercising of one's legal rights. So it may well be unconstitutional to impose such a rule.

In my state, the only time you can make a motion for fees and expenses is in cases that are clearly frivolous and verge on abuse of process. I'd be very surprised if that isn't the general rule everywhere with perhaps some exceptions.

If you're in UK though, then you're right. The losing party pays.
 
Safeway said:
You said, "There is no wage garnishment for medical bills. Dumbass."

That is 100% false. If the particular hospital that your deadbeat SO went to chooses not to seek wage garnishment for reimbursement, that is their decision. This policy, however, has no bearing on the fact that there IS MOST DEFINITELY wage garnishment for medical bills.
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Most big hospitals do not garnish wages from dead beats.

Kaiser also does not garnish wages.
 
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