I received a garnishment notice

Well, they obviously have the employment information incorrect about you and that can be proven I am sure with the IRS. If you are on social security, SSDI or some other type of aid, I am pretty sure those cannot be garnished.

I am on no type of aid

OKay sorry to hear about your sit., but let me say this, if this is there collection letter I would first look at a couple lines.
1) threaten garnishment without judgement maybe a violation of the fdcpa Iam not sure.
2) Check and see if they can sue you or even threaten to sue you. If not they would have violated another rule.
3) If you are unemployed then it would be hard for them to garnish anything..
4)Check with the hospital for financial aid- do to the abillity not to pay. Most if not all hospitals have forms to fill out and the just write it off if you gualify.
You should look at Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Fair Credit Reporting Act. Im new at this so please look around, but from what ive read there seems to be some violations in this letter but Im not sure maybe someone with more knowledge can chime in. These are just coming for my newbie eye's.

They can hire an attorney to file suit, but with the information you have given, it could be a standard letter they send out for collecting accounts. But if you are on disability this type of debt can not be garnished.

They can't garnish your benefits check for this type of debt, no, but they can definitely attach your bank account. This is just a standard collection letter, they are not threatening at all, there has been no court hearing.

All they want is their money, they don't want the extra fees of levvying your accounts. Contact them and attempt to make some arrangements.

I am filling for financial aid through the hospital.I have the forms filled out, I am just waiting for medicaid to give me either a rejection letter or a acceptance letter. when I receive that I will be able to send the form in.I have told mscb this but they still call me and send me letters.

Send them a debt validation letter, and in it, also request that they cease and desist contacting you by telephone, and request that all future correspondence regarding this matter be sent to you in writing via United States Postal Service mail. Send the letter certified/return receipt requested, so that you have proof that your letter was received and signed for.

Sending the validation request will get them off your back, and hopefully your medicaid determination (approval/rejection) will be sent soon, and you can work with the hospital to get this sorted out. If you are approved and the charges can be billed to medicaid, make sure that the hospital takes your account back from the collection agency and that either you or the hospital has the collection agency remove any inquiries or derogatory info. they may have reported to the credit bureaus about this account.

If you receive any calls from them after you know that your letter was received, start keeping a log of the date, time, name of person, etc. Once a collection agency receives a notice to cease and desist calling you, if they continue, they are violating the fdcpa, and you can file against them and receive up to $1,000 per violation.

They are trying to frighten you. They are stating what they can do, and trying to cover themselves (from the fdcpa) by saying "if or when" a judgement is granted. Personally, I'd say that this is a violation. Dunning letters according to law and several court rulings, have to be plain enough to be understood by an "unsophisticated" consumer (someone who finished no more than 6 or 8 grades of school). I'm not suggesting you're "unsophisticated", but that's what the law says regarding those letters. To most people who get a letter like yours, they theink that indeed they are going to be sued and have wages garnished. I read a California Appeals Court summary of this very "unsophisticated" issue.

Buda, you're right, an outright threat to sue and garnish wages (when there's been no judgement) is a violation.
Bigga, I don't know anything about Missouri, or even if they can garnish anything there. They can't garnish any sort of benifits check or SS though.
Law Student
San Francisco, California

I received a court order today and they told me that I was going to court to get my wages garnisheed because I owe a 700.00 bill. I do owe this but I am going through a credit consolidation company and pay them 300.00 a month.

Just a little bit of info that may benifit you, MSCB has had 3 suits filed against them for violations of the fdcpa in the last 6 months alone. They must be doing something wrong.