SOL on doctor's bill

[ambera55]

What is the name of your state? CA

Isn't the SOL from when the debt was incurred and not from when the collection agency received it? I have one coming after me for an accident I was in in 1997, and they told me that they still have 6 months until the SOL runs out since their office didn't get the debt until 2001. Is this right??? According to the research I've done, it's not, so now I'm just . Any info. would be great. TIA.

 

[Ladynred]

When the collection agency GETS the debt has NOTHING to do with the SOL.

You say this has something to do with an accident - were you sued, was a judgment rendered against you for this money ? What KIND of debt is it ?

 

[ambera55]

No, I was not sued, and there was no judgement against me. Basically, the collection agency started writing me letters in 2001 saying that I was responsible for payment to a medical center that I went to right after my accident (according to a settlement agreement that I have the medical center was paid). I asked them to send me proof of this, and all I received was an illegible copy of a lien agreement. Over the past 2 years I have repeatedly asked for a legible copy of this agreement so that I could read it and see what it said. Well...no dice. All of my letters and oral requests were ignored, and the last I heard from this agency was that my debt had been passed onto a lawyer and if I wanted to talk further about it I was to contact them (this was last April). So yesterday I start hearing from them again (soooo this was taken from the attorney and just given to another worker?...riiight), and when I said the SOL was up on it, he said that it wasn't because they didn't get the debt until 2001. In speaking with him today, he was pretty much an a$$hole about the whole thing and wanted me to give him my credit card #, and also said that if it was just going to come to legal action then I should let him know now so that he could get started on the process. I emphatically told him no on my credit card, and basically hung up on him. I also pulled this up on the web :The debt does not become some kind of "new" debt just because of being sold. For example, the seven-year credit reporting time limit is still based on the original delinquency date with the original creditor. The statute of limitations for filing lawsuits is also based on that same date. These limits can not be legitimately "reset" by a collection agency that has bought the debt. This says to me that the SOL is up and they don't have a leg to stand on...am I right?

 

[Ladynred]

You are correct, nothing the collection agency does will reset the SOL, they're full of crapola.

More importanly, you say you have a settlement agreement in writing ?? Does it say the debt is settled in full ? If so, all you really need to do is send these nitwits a copy of that letter and tell 'em to pound sand, the bill was settled long ago, you owe nothing, and here's the proof.

As for the SOL, that's up for debate I'm afraid. Some will argue that medical bills fall under the 15 yr SOL as a written contract, especially if you signed for the services. Others will say the SOL is 4 years under the UCC for goods and services.

If you've asked for validation and have ignored you and continued collections, they are in violation of the FDCPA.

I'd use the settlement letter in this case to get rid of them.

 

[ambera55]

The settlement agreement lists everything that was doled out to everyone. First it lists what the insurance companies paid out, then it says less deductions for the attorney and medical center, then it says "Total Paid Out" which is what was given to me, and finally it says "Total Expenses" (or something like that) and again lists what the two insurance companies paid. However this jerk is trying to tell me that because it doesn't say the medical center was paid out then [sarcasm from him]"You don't really know if they were paid, do you? I mean they could have been paid, but you don't know that, right?" [/end sarcasm from him] But if he wants to go down that route, I can say that it says the same for the attorney, so how do we know he got paid?

As for the SOL, he specifically told me that it was 4 years, and that's why he still thinks he has me because he's going from when they received the debt. And again, this supposedly was already handed over to an attorney and I was to contact them if I wanted to discuss this any further, so now why is it back with just some agent? Also, I stated in a letter that they were violating the FDCPA because they weren't providing me with a copy that I could read, and he told me that I didn't know what I was talking about in those letters and I was wrong!

Thanks for your help Ladynred, and I always love the expression "go pound sand".

 

[Ladynred]

The collector's a moron, obviously. 'How do you know the medical center got paid'.. geez. Its not up to YOU to prove they were, if you've asked for validation so its up to THEM to prove it was NOT paid. Sending you an illegible copy of anything, if its just something that is a copy of what they already have in their system, is NOT validation anyway.

The SOL has NOTHING to do with when the collection got it, it has everything to do with when the debt went delinquent. If all this happened in 1997, the SOL ran out in 2001 !!!

 

[ambera55]

Yeah, this guy was obviously just saying anything to get me to admit to the debt. And even if the SOL was 7 years, that was over July 1, and he didn't contact me until July 13th. The reason why they won't send me a legible copy is because they don't have one, and just don't want to admit to that.

Again, thanks for all of your help and validation Ladynred, it's much appreciated.

P.S. By the way, what is the UCC?

 

[You Are Guilty]

The Uniform Commercial Code

 

[ambera55]

Thanks YAG.

 

[ambera55]

One last question on this. In reading more about the SOL, it says that it starts from when the debt becomes delinquent. Is this different from when the debt was incurred, or would it be the same thing? I'm just all of a sudden a little worried that I have it wrong, and the collection agency is right after all. If you could let me know that would be great.

 

[Ladynred]

The SOL for debts in CA is FOUR years, starting from when it went DELINQUENT, NOT when it was incurred. If you incurred the debt and NEVER paid on it then the first time it was due and wasn't paid would be the start of the delinquency.

When a collection agency BUYS a debt means NOTHING, the CA is WRONG, they are LYING to you !

 

[ambera55]

Well see that's the gray area in all of this. I have no idea when the bill went delinquent, or when payment was expected on it because I never got anything from the OC. The first I heard of the debt was from the collection agency. I know I have other stuff against the CA (and like you said, it doesn't matter when they got the debt because obviously by that time it had already become delinquent), but the whole date of payment is fuzzy.

 

[BlondeIntel]

Finding the Date of Last Payment

. . . . but the whole date of payment is fuzzy.

If you paid by check, you can ask your bank to search for the newest check written to the original creditor. The bank will charge for this service so you should ask someone in your bank's bookkeeping department how much the search will cost.

 

[ambera55]

If you paid by check, you can ask your bank to search for the newest check written to the original creditor. The bank will charge for this service so you should ask someone in your bank's bookkeeping department how much the search will cost.

There was never a check sent (as stated above). It all has to do with the SOL for debts. I don't know when it was due, so I don't know when it went delinquent.

 

[BlondeIntel]

Finding The Due Date

There was never a check sent (as stated above). It all has to do with the SOL for debts. I don't know when it was due, so I don't know when it went delinquent.

More importanly, you say you have a settlement agreement in writing ?? Does it say the debt is settled in full ? If so, all you really need to do is send these nitwits a copy of that letter and tell 'em to pound sand, the bill was settled long ago, you owe nothing, and here's the proof.

If the settlement agreement does not say the debt was settled in full, you may need some other form of documentation.

Did the bill from the doctor state that payment was due upon receipt or did it state that you would have to pay the balance that the insurance company did not pay?

If you don't have a copy of the original bill, you can request that the insurance company send you a copy of the bill that they received from the doctor. The bill from the doctor usually contains a statement of when the payment is considered due. If there is a grace period, it will also state when the payment is considered overdue.

Since you did not personally make any payments, the last payment the medical center received would have been from the settlement. If the doctor expressed a willingness to wait for the settlement, the first unmet due date would probably be 30 days after the settlement. You can request that the insurance company send you a letter stating the date that they made the payment.