Expert: Creditwrench - 6/23/2008

Question
In the spring of 2007, before we were married, my wife had to have an
emergency hysterectomy. Life threatening hemorrhaging revealed a tumor
that had to be immediately removed. At that time she was destitute. She had
just lost her son while he was home on leave from Iraq, so she was badly
depressed and in the care of a psychologist. She had no income except a
$1,200 monthly stipend from her son's estate --  all government assistance
had been exhausted. She found herself owing $36,000 for the procedure.  
Depressed and afraid she never made a payment or contacted the hospital.

Since then, she and I have married. I am retired on fixed income and we are
both attending college, she with federal loans and grants assistance. We were
contacted by a collection agency last summer and began sending them $500
per month on the hospital bill in her name. I've noticed that only about $200
of the payment is applied to principle and the debt now stands at
$35,676.53.  My wife has contacted them, only in writing, and only regarding
a payment date and amount.  I assume I am in no way liable for this debt.  
Here are my questions.

Has the collection agency bought the debt at a discount or are they acting as
a collector for the hospital?  Can we demand a detailed accounting history by
month from the time the debt was incurred, similar to the one I get for my
credit card and mortgage?  If she can't make the payments, is the small
inheritance from her son's estate an asset that can be seized to pay the debt?  
Should we negotiate a payoff with them or with the hospital and if so, what
should we expect?

Any advice will be appreciated.

Roy  

Answer
The first thing that you should be aware of is that no government pension can be garnished by anybody except the government itself. So you are basically giving them what they can't get any other way.

With food, fuel and other costs what they are today and skyrocketing I fail to see why people who are on fixed incomes would want to use tight money to pay off old bills with.

Yes, I am well aware of all the morality issues but business is business and those debt collectors sure don't run any church or charitable institution of any kind. People who are not in a position to pay need to learn that the business of sustaining themselves and their loved ones comes first.

People who are badly in debt and do not have the money to pay should not try to do that which they cannot logically do.

So learn to fight now and put a stop to their impossible to meet demands.

Bill Bauer
405-684-9297
405-227-9423

RECOMMENDED READING:
www.creditwrench.com/howjudgmentswork.html
www.creditwrench.com/18questions.html
www.creditwrench.com/Howtodefeatdebtcollectors
How to set up your hard drive for creditwrench files. Makes them easy to find.
http://consumers.creditwrench.com/sh...=7351#post7351
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If you live within driving distance of Oklahoma City you can also come to our monthly meeting of the Oklahoma City Chapter of Jurisdictionary meetings. They are held on the 2nd Thursday of each month at Coit's Root Beer Stand which is located on the corner of SW 24th & Western Ave in Oklahoma City. The meetings start promptly at 7:00 P.M. and last for 2 hours. Attendees usually arrive about half an hour early so they can enjoy a good meal at Coit's Root Beer Stand. The meetings are free and open to the public and we can discuss your problems as well if you like.

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