Consumer complaint received 2020-04-10
Company: HCFS Healthcare Financial Services of TeamHealth
State: TX
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive notice of right to dispute

Complaint:
I pulled my credit report a couple of years ago and noticed a Medical Debt for {$910.00} that was reported by a third party collection  company called ARS Account Resolution. I disputed this debt with the credit reporting agencies because i did not recognize it and the account lacked information to determine if it was actually mine. I then sent this company ARS a letter asking for proof that the debt was mine and what the charges were for on XX/XX/XXXX. They sent me back a form letter stating the debt was mine and I had to pay. I responded to that letter on XX/XX/XXXX asking specifically what the debt was for because again I was not aware of an outstanding debt for {$910.00} and by then have read the consumer debt collection law that stated they had to send me the proof to legally report of collect it. Two months later I received a letter from ARS that contained personal medical  information, detailed information of what medication was prescribed, what medical procedures were performed, the medical care provider etc. It was very embarrassing. I have many family members that work in the medical field and they all told me that it was illegal for them to have that information or send it to me in order to collect the debt. So, I did some more reading and research about the HIPPA Law that family members told me about and realized that they indeed violated the HIPPA Law by having and sending me that information. So, on XX/XX/XXXX I sent them a letter notifying them that they violated the HIPPA Law and told them I would file complaints against them for the HIPPA violation unless they stopped harassing me and removed the account from my credit report.They never responded to that letter so I assumed that they had dropped the case, stopped collecting, stopped reporting for violating the law. About 6 months later I pulled my credit report and noticed that they were still reporting the debt to all three credit reporting agencies. So on XX/XX/XXXX I sent them another letter stating that they violated the HIPPA Law and my rights as a consumer and asked them again to remove the account from my credit report. I also notified the three credit reporting agencies that this company ARS Account Resolution violated the HIPPA Law and then the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act for not responding to my request within the 45 days allowed by law. Again i didn't receive a response from ARS and the account was not removed from my credit reports. The credit reporting agencies claim they verified the account even when I told them they violated the law! So on XX/XX/XXXX I sent ARS another letter informing them that under Federal Law they can not report this account to the credit reporting agencies for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, they can not collect the debt for violating the HIPPA Law, and I sent another letter to the credit reporting agencies stating that they are violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In my letter I told ARS that if they did not remove the account I would file a complaint with the CFPB. It's now been over two months, I have not heard from them and they are still reporting the account to my credit reports. So, that's why I'm filing this complaint.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation