How I Handled A Collections Letter
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Receiving a collections letter doesn’t have to be the heart stopping event that it usually is for most people. Collections letters are designed for one thing: to collect a debt. How a collections letter does that is through fear, intimidation, and sometimes threats. If you’re the victim of collections scums that send you a barrage of letters or call incessantly on the phone, you do have rights. Federal Law outlines what rights you do have and believe me, bill collectors regularly violate your rights.
About eight years ago, my son was born. We had plenty of medical insurance with a $300 deductible for the birth of our baby boy. After all the joy of seeing that little bundle, I went down to the “business office” (sounds official doesn’t it?) to settle up, after all, I didn’t want to end up in collections. Right? I knew that I would owe the $300 plus another $20 bucks or so for the TV which isn’t covered by insurance.
As I sat at the desk, the accounting clerk told me, “We aren’t sure what the exact final number will be until you check out so can we just send the bill to you?” I said that I didn’t like that idea and that I was willing to pay $350 just to make certain I would pay the whole bill. Her reply was that it would be an accounting “nightmare” for them and that it would be best if I just let them bill me. I insisted, but she insisted more. OK. Bill me.
We came home a day later and I told my wife that we would be receiving a bill from the hospital and to pay it right away. “Do not wait to pay it. Write the check and send it the same day we receive the bill,” I told her. I was in an “improve my credit score” mode of thinking.
A couple of weeks later we received a notice from our insurance company that they had paid all but $321. I told my wife that we should be receiving the hospital bill any day. We never did.
Fast forward about 9 months and on a beautiful spring day I came home for lunch and checked the mail. Lo and behold there was a collections letter saying that I was delinquent and that my account had been turned over to a debt collection agency. The next step I took was critical in saving my credit score: I called the hospital, NOT the collections agency.
I asked for the “business office.” When the accounts receivable manager come on the line I told her who I was and that I had never received a bill from them. I repeated the entire story. She called me a liar. I called her some things myself. She claimed that the hospital had sent 4 bills and asked to verify my address. I said, “Your collections letter made it. Don’t you think you have the address?” She said it was very interesting that I never responded to the bills but suddenly responded to a collections letter. “Yes, it is interesting. All you had to do was press 7 buttons on a phone and you could have had FULL payment, lady! NOW, you’re accepting half a payment from a collections agency. THAT’S STUPID!” Yes, I was yelling into the phone.
She then told me that they do not make any phone calls for amounts under $500. “Oh, I see,” I said, ” You just hand them off without any real attempts to collect them. Don’t you realize the amount of money you’re giving up? One person could call on amounts under $500 and pay for themselves by collecting only 3 accounts per week.”
I told this “manager” that I would rot in my grave before I would EVER pay ANY collections agency. She would never in a thousand lifetimes ever receive a single cent from me via the collections agency, BUT if she would pull it from them, I would happily giver her my debit card number and pay the account in full. She said in a very condescending tone, “Do you have it available NOW?” I did and gave her the number.
In my own condescending tone I left her with, “Wasn’t that easy? See, Ms Manager, you just made an extra $160.50 with one little phone call. How many more people’s credit get ruined because you don’t have the time to press 7 buttons on phone?” She, of course, had no comment. Typical.
If you find yourself getting turned over to a collections agency, I recommend that you REFUSE to pay them. Call your original creditor and beg to continue making payments to THEM alone. Tell them this is the only way they will receive money from you and that you want to pay your bill in full.
Here are my recommendations when dealing with bill collectors:
- Always pay something. Do not try to run from your debt. It doesn’t work.
- Talk to the bill collectors only when you feel okay. According to Dave Ramsey, they will call you at inopportune times to catch you off guard.
- I have a confession to make: I used to be a collector on mobile home payments. During the short time (10 months) I worked at this horrible job, I learned how collections work and how collectors think. To a collector, everyone’s a deadbeat. Under the breath threats on the phone are common. I personally heard other guys threaten to kick people out of their homes. Clue: it takes a lawsuit and a sheriff to do that. We used to send mobile home trucks out to these trailers and knock on the doors or even act like we were getting ready to hitch it to the truck. Talk about using fear? The problem is that it usually worked so it became a continuous practice.
- Virtually every single thing you say is recorded, either audibly or via a shorthand that collectors use. If I called someone’s work and left a message, the account would have an entry PBLWTC Sarah. That stands for phoned business left word to call with Sarah. PRNA - phoned residence no answer. PRSPWMKRPTP1107 was phoned residence spoke with maker who promised to pay by November 7. NPMTRECAP - no payment received as promised. PRMKREXHU - phones residence maker used expletives and I hung up. Everything is recorded and is used against you should your account go before a judge. The lesson? Be professional and keep your promises.
- If you tell a collector to NOT call you, they cannot. Put it in writing, though and send it to that collector directly via Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested. That way you have proof that the collector received your letter. Send it to the bill collector and the boss as well.
- If you tell a collector to call you at home, but not at work, they absolutely cannot call you at work. Again, put it in writing and send it to that collector directly via Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested.
- Keep in mind that most collectors are usually young, inexperienced, underpaid, and woefully under-trained in the law and in anything else.
The biggest key is to refuse, absolutely REFUSE, to be intimidated.
David with My Two Dollars had a similar experience. Read how he handled HIS medical collections experience.
Nickel had his own medical collections experience.
This is beginning to look like a pattern.
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I can honestly say that was one of the worst jobs I ever had. I was threatened, harassed, lied to, and cussed…and that was by the bank’s management!
So first Micah called the lady directly, who verified the account was correct. Then, since it was a “friendly reminder” that told us to call a certain number at the school to resolve our account (instead of calling the collections people), he called them up, explained the situation and letter, and asked them to check and remove the issue from collections. They said they had already done so, but the letter had gone out first.
Hopefully, that’s everything. Fortunately, we’d already paid and we also didn’t have to pay through the collections agency. And since it got cleared up right away, I think it shouldn’t affect the credit score (less than 30 days from printing the letter to resolution). Heck, less than 6.
It’s always interesting to me how quickly companies turn over an account to collections these days…always without so much as a phone call. What is so difficult about pressing 7 buttons on a phone?
Mike
Yeah, it blew my mind. What’s up with no phone calls whatsoever?
That is so true. Here in India, the RBI just laid the norms for collectors. It was so horrible, as many people were driven to suicides. Families destroyed, just for a few
dollarsrupees more. In one case, these goons (collectors) ended up bashing the friend of a person who was at fault! I think governments all over the world should have stringent regulations as well as implementation to prevent injustice to the innocent.From the last few years, if you go through the news, you get a lot of stories of corporate racketeering in not only developing countries, but also the developed countries. They scare the working class people with legal suits and say that the costs should be high. Naturally, people with less money are going to get scared as they dont have the resources, knowledge nor the time.
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