Consumer complaint received 2022-02-20
Product: Debt collection — Medical debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was paid
Company: EVERGREEN PROFESSIONAL RECOVERIES, INC. (WA)

I received a letter from Evergreen Professional Recoveries ( EPR ) on XX/XX/XXXX informing me that I owed a debt of {$470.00} to XXXX  XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent a response letter to EPR via certified mail in which I informed EPR that I did not owe any money, as I had already paid the debt directly to XXXX  XXXX  on XX/XX/XXXX and provided a bank statement as proof. Furthermore, I requested that EPR send me the documents that made EPR think I still owed the debt and that EPR cease all other contact with me and my address. I received a mailed response from EPR, dated XX/XX/XXXX, informing me that EPR would stop collection of this debt. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from EPR informing me that EPR was once again trying to collect this debt, but this time the amount was {$900.00}. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a phone call from an EPR representative and informed the representative that I had already sent proof of payment in XXXX of XXXX and that I was not responsible for the debt they were trying to collect. I also informed the representative that the amount was incorrect, as it included a {$420.00} insurance write-off and the representative informed me that this was already adjusted in their system and that they were only trying to collect the patient responsibility of {$470.00}. The representative denied that I had previously contacted EPR. I requested that the representative note that I'm disputing the debt and that they also notify any 3rd party they may report this debt to that it is disputed ; the representative refused to do so and insisted that I must provide evidence to dispute the debt. I believe the statements made by EPR are false and that I'm not obligated to prove that I do not owe a debt to dispute it. After this the representative informed me that debt collection efforts would proceed and hung up. Following this, EPR called me XXXX more times during the week of XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX  phone call on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX phone calls on XX/XX/XXXX, and XXXX phone call on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, approximately XXXX minutes after speaking to the EPR representative, I spoke with XXXX  XXXX XXXX billing support and they told me that the my account balance was XXXX in their system and that they had informed EPR that the collection should be stopped on XX/XX/XXXX. The collection of my account with XXXX XXXX had been re-opened because of a billing error in their system that was resolved between my health insurance ( Regence ) and XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX XXXX also informed me that they never sent the {$470.00} to collection that I had already paid, only the {$420.00} insurance write-off that was erroneously marked as patient responsibility was sent to collection. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I mailed a second letter to EPR via certified mail informing them of my dispute which was delivered to EPR on XX/XX/XXXX according to XXXX. With this letter, I also included the proof of payment I previously sent EPR, a copy of my letter from XX/XX/XXXX, and a copy of EPR 's response letter dated XX/XX/XXXX. Once again, I requested that EPR provide me with the information that made them believe I owed this debt and requested that they cease all other contact with me and my address.