Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Missouri

Re: collection agency rights

First, from this point forward, never give a collector any information of any kind. If they want information, they have ways to get it. Tell them nothing.

Second, start sending your $100 per month to the hospital or medical provider directly. There is a good chance that once they start getting this, they will call off the collector.

Third, send the collection agency a certified letter, return receipt requested. Tell them that you wish to have no more contact with them, that you are initiating payments of $100 per month, and that any further contact will be a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Go to the www.ftc.gov page and find the credit resources page for more information on this subject.

The only way the creditor can garnish your husband's wages is if he is either a debtor or if he signed a guarantee. If he signed your admission form as the guarantor, he can be sued for payment. If you signed it, only you can be sued. That means they can't garnish his wages if they don't sue him. Since you have no income of your own, they can only attach assets that are in your name only. So if the car is in your name only, get it titled in both your names right away.

Finally, a debt collector may not use abusive tactics to collect a debt. You should probably file a complaint with the FTC about this collection agency. If you hear from this agency after you get the signed return receipt back, immediately file a complaint with the FTC. Once you write telling them they cannot contact you, further contact is unlawful.

Also, do not have any further conversations with this collection agency. Get caller ID, and do not take any calls from unlisted numbers or from that agency. Until then, if they call, tell them you do not want to talk to them and hang up. They do not have a right to make your life hell.

Re: collection agency rights

Please do not let some collection agency flunky intimidate you. You do not owe them anything. They make their money by duping people like you into sending them money. They also dupe people like you by obtaining information such as the information on your car, which they can use later. You do not have to tell them anything! Do not send them any money! Instead, get the correct name and address of the collection agency, send them a letter telling them that this is a disputed account, that you are demanding verification of the amount due in the form of the hospital bills themselves, and also demand that they forward a copy of your letter to every credit bureau that has knowledge of this account. You may also tell them that you intend to hold them liable for each and every violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and that any failure on their part will be met with legal action. Most importantly, you have the right to insist, in writing, that they stop all further collection efforts. (They can call you once more after that, but any more would be a violation of the law.)Be sure to keep a copy of the letter. This will probably get the collection agency off of your back. The worst thing that might happen is really not so bad at all. They may refer the matter to a local attorney to file suit. The attorney will probably send you a demand letter, and you can negotiate with the attorney. Bear in mind that the attorney must also comply with the law. If the attorney files suit, you should hire your own attorney. Believe me, in almost every case such as this an attorney will save you much more money than he will cost you. In the first place, most creditors will agree to accept approximately one half of what they claim is due if your attorney plays his cards right. Sometimes, we actually want the case to go to trial because the creditor's attorney will not be ale to prove up his case, and then the creditor recieves nothing. Also, no matter what your actual financial situation is, there is always the threat of Bankruptcy. Most creditors would rather get something than be wiped out by a Bankruptcy. One word of caution, thanks to the current administration the Bankruptcy laws will soon be changing and people like you and me will be the ones most hurt by the change while giant companies will still be able to bilk their employees and their customers with full protection under the Bankruptcy laws. (Think Wordldcom, or Enron, for example.) Good luck!