Do I have any recourse? Magistrate tossed out small claims case.

[Cesarosumm]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Colorado

I live in Colorado, in early July(2014) we got a summons for a medical bill. My wife and I were shocked because we knew this bill was paid in 2010! The insurance company took 4 months to pay the bill, because our sons DOB was recorded incorrectly by the Hospital which caused the delay. We were by this point well informed on this bill because we had spoken with the collection agency repeatedly on the inaccuracy of the debt. We had to get this off our CR when we bought our house last year(2013), and had two three-way calls with our Insurance company and the Debt Collector regarding this. It was removed from the CR in December of 2012.

So imagine our surprise getting a summons for a debt we had paid! We even had a copy of the check.

My wife had free legal insurance, so we took advantage of it, and got a lawyer to fix it. Every time I spoke(email) with the lawyer, we said we wanted to sue them because we believed the bill was violating the CFDCPA, or FDCPA. Our lawyer ignored us on this count, and was surprised afterward how pissed we were he did this. The case was dismissed with Prejudice within a week of receiving the summons. We were furious because we wanted to counter sue them.

So we decided to try to sue them in Small Claims court in Boulder, where the collector is located. We filed the paperwork, sent the summons. We were suing for them violating the CFDCPA. The date was to be next week(29th). I called about getting a subpoena from our insurance company regarding the transcripts of the calls where the Insurance company walked them through fixing the issue, only to find out the case was dismissed because of the case that was dismissed with prejudice in Park County.

So my question is, are we screwed here? I really thought I had this scumbags for coming after us AGAIN, but it seems that is not the case.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[Proserpina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Colorado

I live in Colorado, in early July(2014) we got a summons for a medical bill. My wife and I were shocked because we knew this bill was paid in 2010! The insurance company took 4 months to pay the bill, because our sons DOB was recorded incorrectly by the Hospital which caused the delay. We were by this point well informed on this bill because we had spoken with the collection agency repeatedly on the inaccuracy of the debt. We had to get this off our CR when we bought our house last year(2013), and had two three-way calls with our Insurance company and the Debt Collector regarding this. It was removed from the CR in December of 2012.

So imagine our surprise getting a summons for a debt we had paid! We even had a copy of the check.

My wife had free legal insurance, so we took advantage of it, and got a lawyer to fix it. Every time I spoke(email) with the lawyer, we said we wanted to sue them because we believed the bill was violating the CFDCPA, or FDCPA. Our lawyer ignored us on this count, and was surprised afterward how pissed we were he did this. The case was dismissed with Prejudice within a week of receiving the summons. We were furious because we wanted to counter sue them.

So we decided to try to sue them in Small Claims court in Boulder, where the collector is located. We filed the paperwork, sent the summons. We were suing for them violating the CFDCPA. The date was to be next week(29th). I called about getting a subpoena from our insurance company regarding the transcripts of the calls where the Insurance company walked them through fixing the issue, only to find out the case was dismissed because of the case that was dismissed with prejudice in Park County.

So my question is, are we screwed here? I really thought I had this scumbags for coming after us AGAIN, but it seems that is not the case.

Thanks a bunch.

"With prejudice" means you cannot sue again for the same matter. It doesn't matter how often or where you try - the matter has already been decided.

 

[Cesarosumm]

"With prejudice" means you cannot sue again for the same matter. It doesn't matter how often or where you try - the matter has already been decided.

That really stinks... Is there anything else we can do? Can we take action against the lawyer? We were very clear about wanting to counter sue, he totally ignored us.

Is there an agency that goes after these collectors? Seems a 1k fine is in order at a minimum..

Thanks so much for your reply.

 

[BL]

That really stinks... Is there anything else we can do? Can we take action against the lawyer? We were very clear about wanting to counter sue, he totally ignored us.

Is there an agency that goes after these collectors? Seems a 1k fine is in order at a minimum..

Thanks so much for your reply.

You recived your answer "Without Prejudice" . I could tell you a story ,but I won't it's history, put it that way OK

 

[latigo]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Colorado

I live in Colorado, in early July(2014) we got a summons for a medical bill. My wife and I were shocked because we knew this bill was paid in 2010! The insurance company took 4 months to pay the bill, because our sons DOB was recorded incorrectly by the Hospital which caused the delay. We were by this point well informed on this bill because we had spoken with the collection agency repeatedly on the inaccuracy of the debt. We had to get this off our CR when we bought our house last year(2013), and had two three-way calls with our Insurance company and the Debt Collector regarding this. It was removed from the CR in December of 2012.

So imagine our surprise getting a summons for a debt we had paid! We even had a copy of the check.

My wife had free legal insurance, so we took advantage of it, and got a lawyer to fix it. Every time I spoke(email) with the lawyer, we said we wanted to sue them because we believed the bill was violating the CFDCPA, or FDCPA. Our lawyer ignored us on this count, and was surprised afterward how pissed we were he did this. The case was dismissed with Prejudice within a week of receiving the summons. We were furious because we wanted to counter sue them.

So we decided to try to sue them in Small Claims court in Boulder, where the collector is located. We filed the paperwork, sent the summons. We were suing for them violating the CFDCPA. The date was to be next week(29th). I called about getting a subpoena from our insurance company regarding the transcripts of the calls where the Insurance company walked them through fixing the issue, only to find out the case was dismissed because of the case that was dismissed with prejudice in Park County.

So my question is, are we screwed here? I really thought I had this scumbags for coming after us AGAIN, but it seems that is not the case.

Thanks a bunch.

You say that the collector filed a civil suit against you for a debt that was not owed, but before you were able to file a counterclaim for an alleged violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice. Right?

Okay, now tell me in what respect did the collector violate the Act? Meaning, what section or sections of the of the Act (Federal or Colorado) were violated by the mere filing of the lawsuit?

 

[FamilyGirl]

You say that the collector filed a civil suit against you for a debt that was not owed, but before you were able to file a counterclaim for an alleged violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice. Right?

Okay, now tell me in what respect did the collector violate the Act? Meaning, what section or sections of the of the Act (Federal or Colorado) were violated by the mere filing of the lawsuit?

What part of the Fair Debt Collections and Practice Act do you feel they actually violated? What is the grounds for your lawsuit? I can understand the frustration of the situation but they're just going to turn around and say it was a clerical error and the lawsuit against you was dismissed. It's not uncommon for collection's agencies to make mistakes. If they removed it from your credit report and the lawsuit was dismissed it doesn't sound like you have much ground to stand on. As annoying as it is sounds like you'd be throwing good money after bad. Me personally, I'd wash my hands of the situation and move on.