My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: California
Hello,
I’m looking for some advice and any information to help me sort out my issue. I apologize for the many questions I’ll have in advance.
In June 2009 I was involved in a car accident that sent me to the ER at a county hospital. At the time, I was unemployed and had no insurance. I was unable to pay the bill in full. I've attempted to seek financial aid in person from the hospital but they denied me since I was not living in the county they serve. The hospital said to seek financial aid from the county hospital in the county I live in. I then went in person to ask, but since I was not treated at their hospital I was not eligible. Months pass by and the hospital placed my bill to a collection agency. I received a letter from the collection agency on Dec 2009 saying that the debt has been placed with them, I owe the full amount, and I have 30 days to dispute or it will be assumed valid. I called the collection agency few days later talking about possible payment options, that I couldn’t afford full amount, but never made a payment. That was the last time I ever had any contact with them. To this day, I never received any phone calls or letters for payment and I've since let the debt sit.
I recently checked my credit report and the medical debt from the collection agency is listed there. It says it is placed for collection on Dec 2009 and was that it was recently updated Mar. 2010.
-Was it legal for the collection agency to list my debt on my credit report? Was calling them to talk about it enough to validate debt?
-Does the time for the statute of limitations start when I was billed from the hospital, from when it was placed with collections, from when I called them about it, or from when it was updated on my credit report?
-Should I wait for the statute of limitations time to pass before I attempt communicating with them again? I haven’t received any contact from them since the day I called them to talk about it in Dec 09. It has been over 4 years since the accident and nearing 4 years from the date they sent me a bill to pay in full.
-Why wouldn’t I have received any communication from the collection agency since the day I contacted them?
In the meantime, I’ve been working the past 3 years, finally got insurance through my job, paying off credit card debts on time, and putting away any money I can for this debt.
Realistically I’d like to negotiate to settle the debt and have it removed from my credit report, but I am not sure when to begin that process.
Any advice for what to do? Keep putting money away and wait for SOL to pass before attempting communication?
Thank you and kind regards,

