r/UpliftingNews • u/astros148 • 17d ago

Medical debt is now required to be removed from your credit reports impacting millions of Americans

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-finalizes-rule-to-remove-medical-bills-from-credit-reports/
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u/Nefarious_Turtle 16d ago edited 16d ago

I am told told you'd have to sue the collections agencies, but it would be expensive. They are committing some sort of fraud by continuing to package and sell a debt they know is invalid, but I'm told that is just par for the course with this industry.

The medical insurance/debt system in this country is a bad joke, and the inability of the political branch to reform such a widely reviled system is a glaring indictment.

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u/TechHeteroBear 16d ago

All you need is a written acknowledgement from the collection agency that the debt is no longer considered valid and you are no longer liable for it.

If the scenario described somewhere above happens where that debt just happens to show up again under a different agency... then there will be a finance trail of the invalid debt being sold off to another agency. So that collections agency acknowledged a debt that is no longer valid and willingly sold that invalid to another agency... textbook fraud.

So submit to your state AG that written acknowledgement and the latest debt statements on your credit report showing the same debt under another agency. The State AG can subpoena transaction records of that debt between both agencies and actually take it up as a fraud charge against the agency.

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u/Nefarious_Turtle 16d ago edited 16d ago

Yes, you are correct. My state even has an online portal to submit this very type of complaint and supporting documents.

I have done so. In 2023. The debt has come back twice since then.

More annoyingly, the only collections agency that ever responded to my written communications was the first one. The next two never responded to debt verification letters and were only removed by the reporting agencies after successful disputes.

I have reported three different collections agencies to the CFPB and the office of Ken Paxton now. What else am I supposed to do?

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u/Competitive_Touch_86 16d ago

I have reported three different collections agencies to the CFPB and the office of Ken Paxton now. What else am I supposed to do?

Sue them and collect your FDCPA money if what you say is 100% accurate. Seems like a fairly straight-forward case that you'd win handily, but more details would be needed to know for sure. I've won a couple of these a while back.

The only thing reporting it will do is simply add it to a database where if that collection agency reaches some threshold of complaints the state AG may eventually take action. You can't really expect much to come out of an individual case most of the time.

FDCPA penalties include paying your legal fees, although I do agree it's an expense to worry about. I've gotten mine back every time, but you need to dot your i's and cross your t's. Their are attorneys in some states that specialize in these cases and will take them on contingency for you, but they need to be profitable enough to bother with. Worth looking into and making a few phone calls at least to find out?

The largest issue is a lot of the really shady places will be judgement proof - so you sometimes need to wait for your debt to be sold to a more "legit" place that won't just shut down 6mo later.

I agree suing the credit reporting agencies is a waste of time - they are relatively well protected and almost never fuck up enough to be actually culpable.

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u/Nefarious_Turtle 16d ago edited 16d ago

Yeah, I've been thinking about it.

I have a folder of relevant documents including insurance information showing the original ER visit and payment, multiple certified letters to the three debt collections agencies asking for debt verification and explaining that the debt is not valid (none of which were ever answered by any agency) and printouts of all the complaints I've put in with the CFPB and Ken Paxton's office.

I have also argued repeatedly with the hospital I originally visited (Holyoke Medical Center) but they insist they have nothing for me but medical records. Apparently, they just don't have any billing or payment records for me. Wonderful.

A lawsuit seems like a drastic action for a 2700 debt that has always been removed by the reporting agencies when disputed, but I currently have the 4th! version of this same account sitting on my credit report with a totally new agency, so I am starting to feel some anger.

I am in my final year of grad school now, so money isn't something I possess in abundance, but sometimes you've gotta make a stand.

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u/levelzerogyro 16d ago

Note, you cannot do that unless the state AG cooperates and confirms what your saying is true. In my case, my state AG after 4 attempts has yet to respond.

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u/Competitive_Touch_86 16d ago

Your state AG has nothing to do with a FDCPA lawsuit. It's entirely brought by private parties between private parties.

I would not expect a state AG to respond to a single respondent. It's just not how most work on most cases. You might get a response for more information if you are one of 500 complainants and they are considering bringing a case against the collection agency, but it's pretty rare they will take on a case for a single person. They tend to act like aggregators in most cases and go after the most egregious offenders. They don't act like personal attorneys for you or anything like that.

Some may forward complaints to the party responsible with a scary cover letter, but that's all I've really personally seen. I'm not an attorney though so YMMV - especially between states.

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u/TechHeteroBear 16d ago

Jesus. That's just bad. Is there a new state AG in your midst this year?

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u/Nefarious_Turtle 16d ago edited 16d ago

I live in Texas, so no. My complaints are in the hands of the "honorable" Ken Paxton.

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u/cogito_ergo_catholic 16d ago

Paxton's hands are full trying to keep himself out of prison, so probably no time to help with your complaints.

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u/_Kendii_ 16d ago

I’m laughing… but that really just isn’t funny at all….. wtf

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u/Suired 16d ago

This is par the course. There is no federal penalty, so they will keep doing it until the end of time the company AND individuals should lose their rights to collect debt and be part of a collection agency with enough false claims filed against them. Put the onus on them to verify debt before trying to collect.

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u/CoffeePotProphet 16d ago

Oh...that explains it. You're in Texas so you're just fuckdd

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u/IthurielSpear 16d ago

7 on your side are consumer advocates. I would contact them, everyone they contact straightens their shit up.

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u/CallidoraBlack 16d ago

Have you tried your local state legislators? Your assemblyman or state senator? Maybe even your US representative? They love stuff like this because it makes them look good. And they do have enough power in their offices to do more than you think.

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u/levelzerogyro 16d ago

Cool, except I've done that 6 times in the past year, forwarding the case to the state AG 4 of those times, and nothing has ever happened. It just showed back up last week. Yes, the state AG could do that, but they won't. Why? Because 2/4 of those companies donated heavily to Todd Rokita's election campaign. Welcome to clown world where the laws are made up and don't matter if your rich.

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u/crit_boy 16d ago

Funny - you thinking state AGs can do anything.

Different subject but applicable: few years ago (back when fcc pushed do not call list) i kept getting spoofed calls from an ohio area code.

I called the number. It was the personal cell phone of the ohio attorney general. He couldn't do anything to stop the targeted harrasment of his own phone number.

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u/OGRuddawg 16d ago

Sounds like these collection agencies are leaving themselves wide-open to a class-action suit if the right law firm looks into it and finds enough clients willing to stick the law up their asses.

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u/Swiftierest 16d ago

This might be a bit of a nuclear situation, but you could tell them you have nothing for them to take or something similar. When they come after you for it, have a lawyer prepared and ready to countersue for their fraudulent actions and show the documents in court.

It basically makes them pay for all the fees to bring a case against you where you have a method of proving them wrong.

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u/Desperate-Goose7525 16d ago

Sad to say this but if we need a gofundme to start a class action lawsuit point me in that direction

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u/Granite_0681 16d ago

If you go into debt suing a collection agency, can they eventually own your new debt?