Consumer complaint received 2021-06-02
Company: Dobberstein Law Firm, LLC
State: WI
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive enough information to verify debt

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX In XXXX I had been at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and had to have a XXXX. I started to get bills in the mail from this procedure and immediately took my mothers advice and filled out paperwork for the assistance program at XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
I received a reward letter shortly after all this and was told the costs had bee taken care of at 100 percent. 
I was in school at the time and knew nothing about judgments or resources to pay for procedures. 
I did fill out all the forms for the XXXX XXXX XXXX as well as some other forms that were included that would give a discounted rate. I received a verification letter that the bill was in fact satisfied and I owed nothing further on any of the bill. 

Prior to the covid 19 quarantine, I received a letter with a time and date to appear or be or a judgement will be entered against me and my wages could be garnished. 

I did appear but only a couple of weeks ago I am told this was not a " meeting '' as I thought but an " order to appear '' ( clarified by the attorney during a phone call on XX/XX/XXXX when I referred to it as a meeting/mediation and then by the court commissioner at the XX/XX/XXXX hearing ), at the time I was under the impression this was just a talk between myself and the other party. This was not held in a court room. 

This " meeting/mediation/order to appear '' ended in the open end communication and the final saying was the attorney from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, Phone : ( XXXX ) XXXX who was representing XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX SC said he would get back to me about getting more information for me about the bill as well as if it were my bill the ability to pay XXXX a check is all I could offer. 
I never heard back from the law office and did send them a letter to follow up as well as made a phone call. I never received a response to either. 
Not only did I clarify that I did not think I owed this debt because I was told and verified this was paid by the XXXX XXXX plan ( a program to assist those who do not have insurance at the time of any care ) but I also applied for XXXX XXXX of XXXX. When I did this, the Wisconsin XXXX went back 3 months to cover any bills or costs. 
When I received notice the XXXX would go back 3 months, my mother XXXX XXXX wrote letters which I read and signed then sent certified to the physician 's I had seen at the time my medical issues. 
The letters stated the XXXX information and requested any bills be sent into claims to be covered. One of the places sent a letter was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX SC. ( I still have the digital copy certified mailings as well as a scanned version of the original letters ) I verified this with the billing department at the clinics. 

I was unaware there was still any balance and still had not received any documents from the law office of XXXX XXXX XXXX. I did try to contact the law office and assumed the issue had been verified and resolved. 

In XX/XX/XXXX I was informed by my employer they received notice to start garnishing my wages. 

After speaking with attorneys and a budget counselor I had my mother do research on my options. 
I was confused, stressed, worried and my XXXX interfered with clarity of things because I didn't know how all this could happen when I took all the necessary steps to resolve this. 
I have XXXX at the time ( applied in XX/XX/XXXX and was backdated 3 months but also was told by the hospital that the application for community care covered my expenses at 100 %. 

Not only did I not know of any debt and could not afford to be garnished but the law firm did not respond to me! 

following the advice of my mother, I filed an objection with the clerk of courts in XXXX XXXX. A hearing was set for XX/XX/XXXX. 

On approximately XX/XX/XXXX is when I filed a motion with the court stating I had no notification of this judgment and this may be a barred debt, and the fact I should be exempt. I also requested to put a stay on any garnishments until the court hearing. 
The commissioner in small claims only gave a court date in which until this day I still have not received notice of. 
After a week of filing the motion I had called the clerk of courts to verify they received the motion via fax and was notified of the hearing after I asked the time and date. 

Approximately XX/XX/XXXX I called Dobblestein Law office and spoke to the assistant for the attorney handling this case. 
It was only 2 weeks ago XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, when I spoke to the court commissioner that this was in fact not a " meeting '' as I thought it to be. 

I was only XXXX at the time and knew nothing about all of this. It took my involving others and asking many questions over the last month to get to this point. 

On approx. XXXX XXXX I called Dobblestein Law and asked if they would consider other options. I was speaking with Attorney XXXX XXXX assistant and stated that I was told this was a barred debt due to the statute of limitations. ( the debt was XXXX XXXX XXXX as of XX/XX/XXXX. 
It was during this conversation that I learned the law firm did not have the original lawsuit paper work and the request I faxed them XXXX, XXXX requesting record of the hearing and lawsuit was not something they would send me. 
I also learned they were only enforcing the judgment and it had originally been entered in XX/XX/XXXX. 
I did state I never received a court date notice nor could I review any bills to verify this was my debt. 
it was during this call that I said this was now a time barred. This is when I was informed the court date was as of XXXX. 
I asked why they just now contacted me and why they did not get back to me when I was going to overlook the paperwork they had and if it was my bill pay XXXX a check. 
I was told because they offered XXXX a month at the mediation/meeting/order to appear. 
I asked if there were negotiations and was told no. i asked if I could sign something to give them less longer ( because it was clear they were not going to give me time to verify the debt ), I was told no, I asked what happened to the discounted rate I was given when I had my procedure and they said they couldn't find the paperwork, I asked how this is debt when it was covered with the community care plan and they said " the anesthesiologist has the right to refuse the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
I was then transferred to Attorney XXXX XXXX. I asked his about providing the information I requested via fax and was told " we're passed that point '' I asked why they never responded to me after the mediation and was corrected that it was an order to appear and that it was because it was not what they asked for. I asked if there was anything else to do because the debt is verified and this is too much for me. 
He was non negotiable and insistent they were garnishing my wages. 
I also relayed to XXXX XXXX all my calls incoming and outgoing are recorded. 

I informed attorney XXXX I contacted the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX On XX/XX/XXXX and am waiting for the supervisor ( calls can be transcribed to review name ), in response to this he stated " your not to contact them. no one should be speaking to you at this point '' I do not see how I can verify anything when this barrier is placed there! 
On XX/XX/XXXX I asked the court commissioner to request the law office to provide me the information from the original court date etc. 
I was told that " its too late for that '' The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is clear on the rights of a consumer and what a creditor can do and not do. I feel this entire situation has violated my time and rights as a consumer. It has caused so much distress and I can not stress enough how many sleepless nights of worry it has caused. 
How does one uphold their rights when the attorney, law office and commissioner all put up obstacles that block me from doing anything within my rights? 

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Pub. L. 95-109 ; 91 Stat. 874, codified as 15 U.S.C. 1692 1692p, approved on September 20, 1977 is a consumer protection amendment, establishing legal protection from abusive debt collection practices, to the Consumer Credit Protection Act, as Title VIII of that Act. The statute 's stated purposes are : to eliminate abusive practices in the collection of consumer debts, to promote fair debt collection, and to provide consumers with an avenue for disputing and obtaining validation of debt information in order to ensure the information 's accuracy. The Act creates guidelines under which debt collectors may conduct business, defines rights of consumers involved with debt collectors, and prescribes penalties and remedies for violations of the Act. It is sometimes used in conjunction with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 

In closing I want to say I feel I have exhausted every avenue I can take with this situation. I have tried to resolve and be reasonable. 
At the age of XXXX I did in fact attempt to and thought I succeeded to get this resolved. 
With all that I have done, why would I have just let a debt go if I knw I owed it. ( I do not believe I do. ) Most of all why would the law firm not just allow me to have copies of the paperwork and bill? Most of All, If this law office was not the one to enter the lawsuit, then how do they know it was done properly? I was not served papers or given a court date in the mail. 
I did also ask where those papers were sent to and the law office did not know but stated my old address, When I asked the attorney XXXX XXXX why wait this long to garnish my wages, his reply was " I guess you couldn't be located '' The part about this that is hard to believe is because I lived in the same duplex since I was XXXX. I did not move until appox 9 months ago. The law office had that address on their records and it was my address for 9 years so this is hard to believe and does not make sense to me. 
I was not even given the name of who it was that allegedly took this to court in XXXX. 
I have several unanswered questions. Not one action that has taken place against me protected my rights. I was basically told I do not have rights and this is my debt no matter what I say or prove. 
I can't even submit a bill to the insurance myself at this point because I wasn't provided one. 
I have even come up with a new XXXX a check amount to pay since I was told I had no options by the commissioner and he would not enforce the law office to let me verify any of this. 
I would like someone to please get back to me as soon as possible. My wages are being garnished and I have to be able to provide for my family. At this point, I will not be able to do that. 
please help! your prompt response is appreciated. Thank you. 
Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I can provide all the information I mentioned to collaborate my facts if needed

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation