Mean Lawyer

Can you give us some more information? First off, how late is the bill? And second, do you know that he's really a lawyer? Anyone can say they're anything on the phone; doesn't mean they are one, know what I mean? Do you agree that you owe the bill?
If he does try and file in court, the court process takes a long time, so chances are you could have it paid off by the time it's heard in court. I would get an address and start sending payments if you agree you owe the debt.

This was my husband's debt. We do owe it. How can I send payments if the lawyer won't take any? Any advice would help.

Question: is this lawyer working for a collector or the hospital? I would even call the hospital's business office directly and work out payments with them. They are usually pretty willing to deal. Screw the third party collector. Put it this way, if you go to the hospital wanting to give them money, they're not going to say no!

It's actually through a Orthopedic Doctor's office, do I call the Doctor's office directly?

I would. I would even drop by there with checkbook in hand to make a partial payment! Why would they not take a payment, that's nuts!

If it did come to court, I would be sure and tell the judge if you called the creditor directly and they wouldn't take a payment. It shows good faith on your part and shows how unreasonable they're being.

I called today and asked if I could make payment arrangements and he said his client wouldn't take payment arrangements.

I'd call the Doc's office directly--or even send them a payment. If they cash it, they accept them!!

How late is this payment?

The payment's really late 2/06.

OK, so it is late enough for court to be a real threat. However, like I said, due to the size of the debt, it's probably headed for small claims, if that. And as we all know, small claims courts are backed up all across the USA. I would start paying whatever you can afford on this debt now. If you can swing it, I would also try and get my own attorney, who could possibly work out a settlement with lawyer from hell.

I'm going to try the Doctor's office first. This is way my husband is not in charge of the finances anymore!!!! Wish me luck, thanks for all the great advice!!!

Good luck!! Also thought of another point. I would also ask your HMO if they have any plans or programs for people who are out of work, etc. Don't know if this is your situation, but if your husband had to file disability while he was recuperating from surgery, it might be worth a try. All they can say is no, right? Let us know what happens!

ok, first of all, there is no way physically possible for him to bring a suit against you tomorrow.

1--filing in court takes time, it cannot be done and scheduled that quickly. Even if you go tomorrow to file a suit, it will most definitely not be scheduled that fast. By the way, he just violated a portion of the FDCPA--the law prohibits any debt collector from threatening to take action that they cannot take, or that they do not have genuine intention of doing. Since he knows that he cannot actually do all of that "tomorrow", then the law applies. This was just a scare tactic, designed to make you cough up the whole amount without asking any questions or taking up any more of his time than necessary. Dont fall for it.

2--He cannot go file tomorrow, because then he would be violating federal law again. The law requires any debt collector to notify you within 5 days of initial contact of your right to dispute the debt. It sounds like this is the first dealing you have had with this particular collector, am I right? If thats the case, then play hardball back. Inform this "lawyer" that he violated the fdcpa by now sending you the required written notice that informs you of your rights.

I would immediately send off a validation letter, as well as a cease and desist demand, to this lawyer. You may also consider posting the name and contact info of this lawyer here--if the guy is bogus, someone here may have dealt with them and found this out--and that is yet another violation of federal law if he really isnt a lawyer. And I am beginning to suspect that he is not a lawyer--he is breaking too many portions of the law that any lawyer would know like the back of his hand. Seems too clueless to me, honestly.....be sure to send those letters out certified mail, RRR, so you will have a record of when they are received. Please do consider posting that info up, and keep us informed. hope this helps, and good luck

You maybe able to appeal to the doctors kind side if you write and explain your situation, propose a reasonable payment plan & enclose a partial payment along with your letter, I would go so far to ask them to pull it away from the 3rd party collector because they are unwilling to work out a payment plan even though you are willing to make payments on the past due balance. Chances are the collector works on commission and wants his chunk of the whole $410 not just a chunk of the smaller payment. Good luck.

Very good advice from everyone here. The upshot I think is not to be scared by one phone call from one a**hole. You do need to pay this off, but you do have rights.

Quote:

Excellent information skydivr, You are exactly right. This is a threat to get them to cough up the full amount. It takes time to go to court. KYSIDE38

And come to think of it, a $400 debt is relatively small potatoes, right? So I really don't know of any attorney out there who would seriously stress over this one. I'm really starting to believe that this caller to our friend wasn't a lawyer after all, but was just playing one.

He probably is not a real lawyer, I would get his refusal to cooperate in writing though, just to show you did try to work things out. Going directly to the doctor is a great idea, they will generally take the payment. They often times don't know what goes on with the billing side of their business. Most docs don't get involved with this part of the business, except my greedy dentist of course.

yeah, another idea would be to contact the original creditor and ask them if this was in fact sent to an attorney or a regular old debt collector. I really do think this was a CA trying to pull one over on you. Not one thing he said to you soulds like it would come from a lawyer with half a clue. Just my two cents, but in either case the guy lied to you about his so-called intentions. Man, there is a company with a debt that isnt actually mine, but the amount is over $40,000...and they dont even go to such lengths like this guy threatened you with, over $400.....

Amen, sky. And trust me, I can see where they would be in court for $40 grand and not so much for $400. After all, for a lawyer, how many hours of work does $400 represent: two, three maybe??

good advice all. One more thought is that if you suspect that the caller was from a CA and thus acting illegally, the Dcotor should be reminded that they could be found liable for damages for actions done by the CA on their behalf

That's good advice ii. That would probably get the ball rolling.

And the last thing that doctor wants is to have one more arena where he's liable, lol. Can you say malpractice insurance???????

food for thought--I thought that in some states, if a debt collector refuses to take payment on a debt, they may forfeit the right to collect any of it--does anyone know about this?? What state are you in, by the way? It would be a good idea for you to check over your state laws before going any further, maybe this "lawyer" could have just handed you a way out of this debt. I may be completely off on this, but I thought I recalled hearing something like that. Anyone know more about that??

sky,
where would one check this information out? I have a collector who is refusing to work with me.

Fedup--check into the laws within your state. hopefully, your laws arent as vague as ours down here in Louisiana! Again, this may or may not be the case, but I do recall hearing it somewhere. Look through the consumer protection laws in your state--you can also contact the state office that handles consumer protection matters. Another resource that I am currently using myself right now is the NACA website--naca.net has consumer protection info and a database of attorneys that is searchable by state. I will take a better look around when I get in from work this evening and will pass along to you anything I find, I assume youre in Pennsylvania, right?

typically debt collectors can hold you to their terms.. one thing they general cannot do is demand that payment be made a certain way... they can require sertified funds, cashiers check , money order, but cannot require eft, credit card etc.... If you submit a payment or offer to pay and they refuse or return it or refuse then can can invalidate their right to collect, but it would have to be a payment in full.. they cannot be forced to accept partial payments except by a judge.

Very true, JJ, but let me ask you one thing: If the debt collector cashes a partial payment and later says he or she doesn't make payment arrangements, would this be false, since they cashed the partial checks?

they can still refuse to make formal arrangments, thereby leaving additional action open, however in court I surmise that accempting partials then suing would not be viewed favorably by a judge

I agree with you, as it's almost like talking out of both sides of your mouth!