Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Oklahoma
what will happen on a civil suit against me
my husband was in the hospital for a minor surgery about a year ago we do have insurance that covered most of it. i knew that i needed to start paying the hosp some money but my debts were so high that i felt i couldn't start paying them anything yet..i recieved a notice that they were sending me to collections so i called them that day turned out they already had done that. when i told them i wanted to start making payments to them and that i felt i could afford about 20 dollars a month they told me that they didn't do things that way that i had to come in and tell them how much money i made and what my bills were and they would decide what my payments were. after i hung up with them i felt that they didn't have the right to know my finances after talking to several people about this they told me just to send what i could afford so that day i sent them 20 dollars.. 3 weeks later they sent me a certified letter adv me that i was to appear in court on this that i was being sued..what can i do..
1 Answer from Attorneys
Debt collection
Don't consider this advice to be the equivalent of a consultation with a local attorney (I'm not even licensed to practice in your state). However, I do have some thoughts about your situation.
The people who gave you this advice must not have been attorneys. While a hospital might not normally have the right to ask about its patients' finances, it does have a right to fet paid for services it provides, just like any other business. When you didn't pay your bill, the hospital was within its rights to bring a collection action against you. You have the right to try to negotiate with the hospital, as you have done, but they probably don't have to negotiate with you at all. If they choose to negotiate, they can request financial information in order to determine your ability to make payments. You don't have to give them this information, but they don't have to dismiss their lawsuit against you, either.
If you want to avoid the lawsuit, you'll probably need to give them the financial information they seek. If you're as poor as you indicate, the hospital may recognize your inability to pay and accept some sort of long-term payment plan.
Or, you might try negotiating with some of your other creditors. It seems that you treated the hospital bill as somehow different from your other bills, which I will presume you were paying. You say that you "felt" you couldn't pay this bill because of your other debts. While I understand this feeling, I doubt that the hospital will. Depending on the nature of your other debts and on the specifics of your agreement with the hospital, they probably have at least as much of a claim to your funds as your other creditors.
If you can't reach a compromise, you may want to consult with a bankruptcy attorney (sometimes the threat of bankruptcy will persuade creditors to negotiate where they otherwise would not.)
Show up in court on the date specified, and bring a local attorney if at all possible.
Sorry I can't be more encouraging.
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