Consumer complaint received 2017-08-29
Company: Eastern Account Systems of Connecticut, Inc.
State: NY
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive enough information to verify debt

Complaint:
I saw XXXX XXXX XXXX, who is no longer with XXXX XXXX, onXX/XX/XXXX andXX/XX/XXXX. I never received a bill, but my company has a third-party payee from our " XXXX XXXX '' and an XXXX. This made me assume that the bill had been paid through that. I did not receive any further correspondence from either XXXX XXXX or Eastern Account Systems, the debt collector. I found out about this debt inXX/XX/XXXX and tried to figure out what it was for, because it did not specify anything. I had not seen any doctors at XXXX XXXX, per their website, so I had to trace back a year, and that is how I figured out it was XXXX XXXX. 

It is possible that the billing was not completed properly if XXXX XXXX is no longer associated with XXXX XXXX. I also found out that I was billed {$160.00} for a common wrist brace that is available for $ XXXX {$20.00} everywhere -- XXXX and other websites, which is egregious. 

Aside from this, if my second service date was XX/XX/XXXX, the practice could not have issued/generated a bill prior to approximately XX/XX/XXXX. I moved from my former address on XX/XX/XXXX, but I did have mail forwarding set up, and I moved within the same building. 

I contacted the New York State Attorney General 's Office regarding this matter on XX/XX/XXXX, in hopes of resolving this matter, but the Attorney General was not able to resolve anything with this company, either. The letter I received from the Attorney General 's office, dated XX/XX/XXXX ( I called on XX/XX/XXXX because I had not received any correspondence, so I just received the letter ), says that the company " refused to make any refund or other adjustment. '' I have offered to pay the debt in full, but Eastern Account systems refused to remove the derogatory information from my credit report! This has sent my credit score " into the gutter. '' I have had 100 % perfect credit for my entire life before now, and this is incredibly detrimental to me. 

Because I never received a bill or any correspondence, this original omission of payment to XXXX XXXX was in error. As noted, I also never received any correspondence from Eastern Account Systems. The letter Eastern sent to the Attorney General, dated XX/XX/XXXX, claims that the notices were mailed to my home address, which I " verified one as correct. '' This is a blatant lie ; I refuse to validate my address to anyone over the phone, due to fraud and identity theft and previous issues. When I spoke to a representative at Eastern, as the letter claims, on XX/XX/XXXX, I did not verify my address, and thus no information was provided. I asked that a letter be sent to me in order to validate the debt to whatever address they have on file, but I received no such correspondence. The letter also claims that I was called onXX/XX/XXXX, but I have no such record of any call from the company on my phone bill. Eastern also claims that I said the debts were paid in full ; but if I did not verify my address and they would not speak to me, how could I verify the debt was paid in full? 

Once I found out about the debt in XX/XX/XXXX, I immediately offered to pay the bill in full, so long as the negative information was removed from my credit report ( perfect credit otherwise, now ruined ), to no avail. They said they would only update it to " paid, '' which would scar my credit for the next 7 years. This is aside from the fact that the debt collector, Eastern Account Systems, illegally reported the debt before what is allowed in New York State. Eastern Account Systems 's representative tried to dupe me and claim that Connecticut law applied " because they are a Connecticut corporation, '' but I am an attorney and know better ; New York law applies because ( 1 ) the doctor was located in New York ; ( 2 ) XXXX XXXX is in New York ; and ( 3 ) most importantly, I am a resident of New York during the entire applicable period. Eastern tries to use deceptive practices on people and scare those who do not know any better. 

The information I provided in my complaint to the New York State Attorney General is as follows : Section III of the Attorney General 's settlement agreement clearly stipulates : " 3. Medical Debt Collections a. To allow appropriate time for insurance remediation and clarity on what a consumers individual payment obligation is for a medical account, the CRAs shall prevent the reporting and display of medical debt identified and furnished by Collection Furnishers when the date of the first delinquency is less than one hundred and eighty ( 180 ) days prior to the date that the account is reported to the CRAs. '' Whether a bill was generated by XX/XX/XXXXor not, the date of the " first delinquency '' was clearly after XX/XX/XXXX. My credit report says that this was first reported in XX/XX/XXXX ; Eastern claims they reported it in XXXX XXXX. No matter what, that is less than XXXX days from the first delinquency. 

Eastern is playing bait and switch with me, not only with this information, but a manager named XXXX told me onXX/XX/XXXXthat they sent me XXXX letters, then she changed it to 7 letters ; she can not get her facts straight. OnXX/XX/XXXX, a " XXXX '' told me that NY law does not govern them, only CT law does, because they are based in CT. I am a NY resident, so of course NY law prevails, as I noted above. 

Eastern clearly does not know either the facts or the law, and this information was placed on my credit report in violation of what is allowable. 
-- The letter dated XX/XX/XXXX from Eastern Account Systems to the New York Attorney General contradicts the information I have written above, which is what I submitted to the Attorney General. XXXX claims that nothing was placed on my credit report until XX/XX/XXXX ( note that my credit report reflects XX/XX/XXXX ), and as the letter states, " long after 180 days. '' This statement is false on its face ; even if it was placed on my credit in XXXX XXXX, it was NOT long after 180 days ; XX/XX/XXXXwas only XXXX days after my second visit to the office at the end of XXXX. 

New York 's settlement with debt collection agencies very clearly stipulates that nothing can be placed on a credit file until 180 AFTER a first delinquency : " To allow appropriate time for insurance remediation and clarity on what a consumers individual payment obligation is for a medical account, the CRAs shall prevent the reporting and display of medical debt identified and furnished by Collection Furnishers when the date of the first delinquency is less than one hundred and eighty ( 180 ) days prior to the date that the account is reported to the CRAs. '' So again,XX/XX/XXXX was 180 days after my second office visit, not my first DELINQUENCY. Feasibly, no bill would be drawn up and sent to me, let alone due, prior toXX/XX/XXXX, and even that is extremely quick. A delinquency would most likely not be for 30 days after the initial date of the bill, which would make that XXXX XXXX, if the bill was actually drawn up that quickly. XX/XX/XXXX was only XXXX days after XX/XX/XXXX, making XX/XX/XXXX the first day, based on this hypothetical timeframe, that Eastern Account Systems would be legally permitted to place any derogatory information on my credit report. This means that even if they placed the information there in XX/XX/XXXX, as they claim, rather than XX/XX/XXXX as my report reflects, it was still well before 180 days not " long after, '' as the company claims. This is in violation of the law, and the information must be expunged from my credit report IMMEDIATELY.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation