question regarding accts in collections

[mommyto4]

What is the name of your state? az

I received a letter today regarding some medical bills that I thought were paid by our insurance company are in collection (was unaware because collection agency had old address and the letters were being sent there)

I called on the letter that i received today and said that I wanted to take care of these bills but since we are a family of 6 on one income I would be only able to make monthly payments as the total bill is 1540. he said that he would accept payments of 350 a month until the bill is paid. I (remember reading from past comments here on the boards) stayed calm and informed him that I was unable to make payments in that amount but I could make a payment of 100 a month until the bill is paid in full. He refused and wouldn't hear anything else. Stated that he was going to start legal proceeding against me as of today if I didn't pay the bill in full and that he was going to have me arrest. I told him that I know that he couldn't have me arrested and that if he chose to start legal proceeding for refusing my payment offers that was fine there was nothing I could do.

I really dont want him to but he started getting very rude (which is there job) screaming (which was annoying) and making threats.

Im trying to pay this bill the best that I can what else can I do at this point?

[BizMan]

First of all, be sure that your insurance company did not pay it. I would contact the insurance company to verify if they paid it or not and find out why if they didn't.

If they didn't pay it and you have to pay it yourself then I would just send them what I could afford each month. Legal procedures to collect a debt costs money so many collectors will just use the scare tactic to try to scare money out of you but most likely won't follow through, especially if you are already making payments.

One thing that might be better is to contact the hospital/doctor (original debtor) and explain the situation to them and ask them to set up a payment plan with them and then just tell the collection agency to take a hike.

Just my two cents

[Chien]

The suggestions have merit, with a couple of possible flaws:

If the CA just doesn't sue on debts of that size - never has and/or the creditor won't authorize it (which can happen with creditors like doctors, who are adverse to suing patients), then the CA is threatening legal action that it does not intend to take, and that is a "per se" violation of the FDCPA.

The other possible problem is that, in some states, like my own, the collection agency takes an "ownership" interest in the claim, once assigned. That means it can't be "backdoored" by the debtor negotiating settlement directly with the creditor.

Don't know if the second issue is relevant in AZ, but it's offered as an observation. As I say, "possible flaws".

OP - there one other thing that you might consider and that's trying to make your offer directly to a supervisor or manager, who may not have his/her commission on the line. And, if you could find a way to make payments in not more than a year, I suspect you'd have a better chance.

We don't know (or need to know) your asset situation, but there's a tendency with some collectors to think that things are not as bad as you explain. If it's necessary to "sell" your proposal by providing a copy of a tax return or a pay stub, do it. Just redact (black out) any information that would help them enforce a judgment, if the negotiations fell through.

If you're a one-income family of 6, I'd almost be willing to bet that your most powerful "persuader" would be to show them what exemptions you could claim. Exemptions are deductions from what could be taken by, for example, a wage garnishment. If you have 4 dependents, you have exemptions. Your court of sheriff could provide a list for your state and the forms to use to claim them, if there were a judgment against you. But if you did that homework in advance and found that, on an income of $X, that a judgment creditor could garnish a maximum of $Y and out of that you could legally exempt $Z, and the remaining number that the creditor would get would be $100 or thereabouts, there really is no point in not accepting your offer. It saves the expense of litigation and, if you default, they can always go after other assets later.