Consumer complaint received 2024-08-29
Product: Debt collection — Medical debt
Issue: Written notification about debt — Didn't receive enough information to verify debt
Company: FRESNO CREDIT BUREAU (CA)

I am filing this complaint, hoping to get your help looking into this matter, in which I feel my rights have been violated. 

I want to report apparent illegal activities by a hospital and debt collection agency committed in relation to my medical debt. On XX/XX/XXXX, I had an XXXX XXXX done by XXXX XXXX XXXX, which is part of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. The first and only bill I received was dated XX/XX/XXXX. That bill did not have a specific due date. For a due date, the bill only says, UPON RECEIPT. At the time I was disputing the amount which my insurance paid, hoping they would pay more. On XX/XX/XXXX, we received a bill from Creditors Bureau USA, dated XX/XX/year>. The Bill says that Between XXXX and today, interest had been charged. This is preposterous. There is no clear disclosure when interest began to be charged. The bill makes it seem that interest began accruing the day of the medical procedure. 

First, according to California law, Hospitals can not sell your patient debt to a debt buyer unless you are ineligible for financial assistance, or you have not responded to a hospitals attempt to offer assistance for 180 days. We were never offered any such assistance or given 180 days to resolve this bill. My debt was sold to a debt collector less than 180 ( around 60 days with no due date ) after the first bill was received, let alone, it was only 149 days since my procedure. I am not sure if this violates any federal laws. 

Second, in its first written communication with us, Creditors Bureau USA did not inform me of a timeframe for reporting negative information, which is required by California law. 

Third, according to California law, Hospitals are required to provide you with a specific notice before transferring a hospital debt to a debt collector. This notice will include a copy of an application for free or reduced care under that hospitals policy. In the first written communication with you, debt collectors must also send you a copy of this notice. XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX failed to provide me with specific notice that the debt was being transferred to a debt collector, violating my rights. Not only was I not told by the original creditor that the debt was being transferred, only two months after the initial bill, but I was not given a copy for free or reduced care, which is my right. Finally, the debt collector did not send me a copy of this notice either in their first communication with me. While I am still working with insurance, my debt gets sent to a debt agency. This is unfair and illegal. 

Lastly, debt collectors may collect interest, fees, charges, or other expenses to your debt only if they are expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or are otherwise permitted by law. There was never any agreement with the hospital to pay interest. Nowhere in the original bill does it say anything about charging interest. How can Creditors Bureau USA begin charging interest on a bill, which never said anything about interest, and have it backdated to the day of the procedure?