Consumer complaint received 2019-08-29
Product: Debt collection — Medical debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt is not yours
Company: The Law Offices of Mitchell D. Bluhm & Associates (FL)

Complaint:
This complaint is against the company MBA Law ( Mitchell D. Bluhm & Associates , LLC or MBA Law ). They claim that I owe on a medical bill in the amount of {$1600.00}, but I dispute that bill, because it is for services I do not believe I received, and there is no evidence that MBA Law is registered or licensed in the state of Florida to legally act as a collection agency. I left two voicemails, and sent two e-mail 's disputing the bill, and requesting proof that MBA Law had authority to collect the debt in the state of Florida. I received no response from MBA Law about this question and when I asked a representative on a later phone call to produce their FL license or registration, she simply said that it was public knowledge. There is no record of registration as is required by FL Statute XXXX, which requires the registration of consumer collection agencies. I called the FL Office of Financial Regulation, and they told me directly that MBA Law ( Mitchell D. Bluhm & Associates , LLC ) was NOT licensed or registered in Florida to try and collect this debt, and that they had multiple other complaints about them. The FL Office of Financial Regulation then directed me to file a complaint directly with CFPB. 

In addition, I dispute the medical bill because it is for services I believe I did not receive. After a car wreck that was not my fault ( uninsured motorist ), I had to have minor XXXX XXXX XXXX.  I did extensive research and decided that I did not want XXXX XXXX, due to the much greater risk of side effects and increased recovery time. I only wanted local XXXX. I requested this of the surgeon and he agreed to do the XXXX where he would personally do a local injection to numb my knee. The procedure went very well, and never at any point did I receive additional services from an XXXX ( XXXX XXXX / XXXX ) due to pain or because I could not handle the situation. I was awake and watched the whole procedure on a video screen, while having a conversation with surgeon and his staff. They were amazed that this was my request, and said it was very rare to have someone choose XXXX XXXX rather than being put under. A month or more after the XXXX, I was under the impression that all bills for the medical services had been provided to me or my insurance company. I called The XXXX XXXX a couple times to confirm there were no more outstanding bills before I settled the case with XXXX XXXX and XXXX. We then settled the case, thinking all bills were paid. About four months later I received the first notice of a bill from XXXX XXXX , XXXX for {$1600.00} on XX/XX/2016. XXXX was the usual provider of XXXX XXXX for this arthroscopic type XXXX on behalf of XXXX XXXX XXXX. I think they did a routine billing without considering that I did not receive XXXX XXXX. I called XXXX XXXX multiple times to explain that the bill might be a mistake as I refused to have XXXX XXXX, and the surgeon from XXXX XXXX XXXX performed local anasthesia himself. As far as I know, I did not receive any services from XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/2016 I spoke with a representative named XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and she assured me this bill was not going to collections, but being reconsidered. I called again one month later, and a different XXXX XXXX named XXXX told me on XX/XX/2016 that my responsibility was still {$0.00}, and the bill had been sent to XXXX, even though I disputed it. I also very clearly asked if it had been or would be sent to collections, and again I was told No. I made multiple attempts in good faith to rectify the situation. I asked for them to contact me directly if they were not satisfied after speaking with XXXX. I heard nothing else from XXXX. See my notes on the bill they sent me, and proof of XXXX XXXX 

Then three years later, I received a collection notice from MBA Law ( Mitchell D. Bluhm & Associates , LLC XXXX. Their paperwork shows that XXXX XXXX had already made a collection adjustment to their records on XX/XX/2016 and zeroed out my account. This contradicts the conversation I personally had with XXXX on XX/XX/2016 and on XX/XX/2016 and took notes on. It had not been sent to collections, and they were considering dropping the bill. They should have zeroed out the bill as an accounting adjustment, but should not have labeled it as a " collection adjustment ''. I believe that XXXX made some mistakes in billing me to start with and was disorganized in re-coding my situation, which resulted in this illegitimate bill being bought by MBA Law ( Mitchell D. Bluhm & Associates , LLC ), who bought the debt hoping to make money off of me, even though they are not licensed or registered in the state of Florida to collect, and I have never had any dealings or contracts with MBA Law.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief