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Question
I incurred a medical bill (for my son's appendectomy)from Anesthesia Associates in November of 2008, in the amount of $891.00. It took us several months to work through the insurance mess. In April we found that this particular bill would not be covered. At that time we received a notice from a debt collector, Account Billing Services. I wrote a Cease and Desist to Account Billing services, registered with return receipt, with a copy to Anesthesia Associates. I proceeded to make payments to Anesthesia Associates. We have never received any communication back from Account Billing Services, nor have I received an updated invoice showing my payments or a new balance from Anesthesia Associates. I was prepared to make a final payment in the amount of $691.00 on October 15th. In my door today, I found a court summons suing us for the balance, plus fees and interest. This court summons comes from the same attorney as Account Billing Services, Mark Clark, but under a new company name, Collection Bureau, Inc. I have never received a bill or any correspondence from a Collection Bureau, Inc. I can go ahead and pay the balance in full today to Anesthesia Associates. I know that I am required to respond to this summons. My question is how do I proceed and what am I liable for to the collection agency if I have sent the balance in full to the original creditor? Is there a template for a proper response?
Thank you for any help you can provide.
Well, you can try to pay the original creditor but don't do it by mail or by phone. Go to their offices and pay it in cash and get a receipt. If you can't get a receipt for the money in your hand then don't pay it. Be sure there is a signature of the person you paid it to or an official paid in full stamp of some kind. If they accept the money and give a receipt you can take it to court with you and show that you already paid the debt. That might get you out of most of the trouble but the lawyer will probably still want his/her money because they not only put their time into preparing the case and they paid the filing fee which is probably somewhere between $100 and $200 plus they will want some interest too. So paying the creditor really won't do you much good. The court will see it as an attempt to avoid the rest of the liability and will most likely issue a judgment in favor of the attorney while giving you credit for the money you paid the creditor. So there isn't much if any advantage to be had by paying the creditor. In fact, if I were in your shoes I wouldn't pay them anything and just keep my money. Not really hard to do. But yes, you do have to reapond to the summons and complaint. You only have a certain number of days to respond. Is there a template? No, If you want to respond and handle your own case you have to learn how to do it. That's what I do. I teach people how to prepare all the paperwork needed to file Pro Se.
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Answers by Expert:
Creditwrench
Expertise
Debt Collections law, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), federal law, how to properly answer court summons for collection cases, how to prepare federal cases against debt collectors, how to deal with debt collection phone calls.
Experience
I've been an active consumer advocate for more than 40 years and have helped hundreds of people win cases against debt collectors as well as helping them defeat demands for summary judgment lodged against them by banks, debt collectors and defeat mortgage foreclosures and keep their homes.
Education/Credentials
Paralegal courses for the most part.
I have been teaching people how to deal with judgments, mortgage foreclosures and other such problems both on and off the internet for many, many years. I am a Richard Cornforth information provider ever since 2000 and worked with many other organizations and causes since 1980. I was Oklahoma State Chairman for the nationwide drive to defeat the Constitutional Convention which was proposed by various factions within our federal government such as the Council of State Governments and the National Organization of State Governors who were working hard to organize a Constitutional Convention to be held in 1995 for the purpose of rewriting our American Constitution to be more acceptable to the United Nations. I worked with Senator Charles Duke of Colorado and Senator Don Rogers of California and many others across the nation to keep them from getting the number of delegate states required to lawfully hold a Con-Con and we were successful. I have worked with many other legislative issues in Oklahoma and have always been very successful.
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