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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Posts
    1

    Default Debt Collection Agency Refuses to Back Down Even Though Sent Proof of Payment

    My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: New Jersey.


    I was injured and hospitalized a few years ago. Most of the bills were paid by insurance or by myself.

    There was a few thousand dollars in bills left.

    The hospital contacted me and we reached a verbal (I may have paper, need to find it) agreement that the bill would be settled for less due to my financial situation.

    I sent them a check with the agreed amount. On the check I wrote "Paid In full" as well as my hospital account number. The check was deposited and I have digital copies of it from my bank

    All was quite until about two years ago. I was contacted by a collection agency trying to collect the difference. I explained my agreement with the hospital and sent them a copy of the check. They apologized and backed down. A few months later I was contact by another debt collection agency, I sent them a copy and the same thing happened.

    Recently a third debt collection agency contacted me. This one started off by putting a debt collection on my credit report right away. I sent them a copy of the check. This one though said that they need to verify the check with the hospital first, and it can take a few months. If I want the debt collection on my credit report removed faster, I should pay the debt. I asked them to notate that the debt was in disupute and they refused to. Reiterating that the only way of getting it removed faster then a few months is to pay the debt.

    So my two questions are:
    1) are they allowed to do that? They are trying to force me to pay the debt rather then them removing it.
    2) How many times is the hospital allowed to shop the debt around? Is this going to continue until I pay?


    Any help/suggestions?


    Thank You

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Debt Collection Agency Refuses to Back Down Even Though Sent Proof of Payment

    If you want the CRA to add a note to an entry on your credit report, ask for that from the CRA. You can also dispute the entry with the CRA.

    Have you tried contacting the hospital to try to figure out why this matter keeps getting sent out to collections?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    1,995

    Default Re: Debt Collection Agency Refuses to Back Down Even Though Sent Proof of Payment

    I would do as Mr. Knowitall says, notify the CRA that it is a disputed item.

    I've gone through this myself with a hospital bill. The hospital may have sold the claim to a collection agency, and when the 1st agency found out they couldn't collect on it, kept it's mouth shut and sold it to another collection agency. And when this collection agency finds out that they can't collect on it after investigating, does the same thing and sell it off to another one. I was with a major company once, and I was the one responsible for handing claims over to collection agencies.

    So, it's not the hospital that keep sending the same claim to different agencies. The agencies tries to palm it off to the next one after finding out it's a worthless claim, hoping not to lose any money buying a money losing claim, by quickly selling it.

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