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Im absolutly livid with life right now. Im so sick of trying, Me and Sour skiddlez finally got the car working, Got caught up on bills, managed to put money away, All that money is gone. The Hospital levied our bank account and took it all. All our hard work to dig ourselves out, and now we are even more ->-bleeped-<-ed then was the first time. Im so sick of trying. That light at the end of the tunnel is never the way out, its always another damn train ready to mow our ass's down. I seriously dont know what we're going to do now. We got a 1800 levy against us, and with how low income we are, thats going to screw us over for months if not a year or two  :-\ I was picking up tons of shifts at work to dig ourselves out.  I cant keep working 16hr-24 hr long shifts to fix that., ive utterly destroyed my physical and mental health working so much to pull us out of the last disaster when our car took a ->-bleeped-<- on us. I just dunno what to do anymore.

I take it that the hospital took you to court and won? In the US?

Quote from: Suziack on May 07, 2014, 01:25:02 PM
I take it that the hospital took you to court and won? In the US?

Thats the thing, it never went to court, never got anything in the mail, nothing, woke up, our debit cards wouldnt work, our assests was froze due to a levy the bank said

Quote from: Teela Renee on May 07, 2014, 01:44:45 PM
Thats the thing, it never went to court, never got anything in the mail, nothing, woke up, our debit cards wouldnt work, our assests was froze due to a levy the bank said

I Know over here you can take the bank and or hospital to court for things like this. and legal aid can provided on a now win no fee basis if needed. is their a place you can go for free legal advice.

Quote from: ButterflyVickster on May 07, 2014, 01:52:39 PM
I Know over here you can take the bank and or hospital to court for things like this. and legal aid can provided on a now win no fee basis if needed. is their a place you can go for free legal advice.

Not without some traveling. Its a good 45 minute drive and by appointment only. So id have to reqest time off from work, and travel out there. While in the mean time, all our money is stuck in the levy/limbo.  Skiddelz has to call the agency that put the levy in place to try and see if anything can be worked out, but atm we are absolutly screwed.

I don't think they can seize or garnish assets with out an actual judgment which is a whole other problem altogether.  So sorry you are going through this, I have been there, it is not fun.  :(

I'm sorry to hear this.  Have you tried seeing if the hospital will work out a payment plan?  I had a substantial hospital bill (for me) that was completely covered by a charity program that I qualified for as I was low income.  That was probably lucky, but I'm also on a payment plan for another medical bill.  Instead of paying a $700 bill (around there at least) all at once I worked out a $50 payment plan for each month.  Maybe something like that is possible?  that way maybe it will be more manageable.  I'm not sure if that's possible since they levied your account, but I hope there is some improvement to the situation. 

This doesn't sound right to me. In my State they can't take everything. They have to leave subsistence money in place. Please call legal aid right away. You do have to receive a legal notice before this can be done. Contact your bank immediately and see if they received any legal notice and why you were not contacted about it.

There are limits on what that can take. Also if you are making "any" monthly payments to a hospital they can't levy you. Definitely get some legal help because this doesn't sound right (from a legal standpoint).

Some time it just seems like the money gods are just pissed off .hell have no fury like money vacuum called life .One of my great what H moments was when me and my present wife raised and paid for 15 years for my son . He went back to be with his bio mom and she flaked on everything .He came back to us and guess who has to pay her for 2 years child support ... Oh yea her address has bars on windows ..You just have to KEEP SWIMMING ,KEEP SWIMMING ... Good people are tested every day .That just makes us stronger and little pissed ..HOLD ON IT WILL GET BETTER .. If you need to vent give me a pm . 

Quote from: Jessica Merriman on May 07, 2014, 06:19:15 PM
This doesn't sound right to me. In my State they can't take everything. They have to leave subsistence money in place. Please call legal aid right away. You do have to receive a legal notice before this can be done. Contact your bank immediately and see if they received any legal notice and why you were not contacted about it.

I second this, they can be sued for falsifying legal documents or attempting to bankrupt you.

Teela Renee, sorry to hear that you're struggling.  Please don't give up - I've been there in absolute financial ruin, and it's the most depressing thing ever.  But like most things in life, it'll pass eventually.  Trust me.  You sound like you're dedicated to getting out of these financial problems, you're not ignoring them, and that means you'll find a way.  It's not easy, it's not quick, and it's going to take some more of the hard work that you've already put in.

A couple of things.  First, focus on the future.  I'm going to ask that you ignore the advice about challenging the validity of the debt, or seeking legal help, or suing the lender/bank, because all of that is an absolute waste of valuable time and money.

This isn't directed at you, Teela Renee, but at everyone.  No lawyer will touch this case, not just because there likely is absolutely no case whatsoever (the money was owed, and medical collections at the hospital level is highly-evolved, efficient, and generally 100% legit, with very few mistakes), but because a lawyer will charge far more in legal fees than he or she would recover.  Why spend $5,000 in legal fees over a $1,800 bill with no chance of punitive or compensatory damages?  Makes no sense.  It might make sense if the bill was genuinely in dispute and was for $50,000, with clearly illegal collections practices, but over an undisputed $1,800 bill?  Nah.

When cases like this go to court, the hospital's lawyer will generally take in fifty or so similar matters all in one go, a big pile of collections files.  The judge will spend a minute on each case.  Here's what happens:

Judge:  "Ok, case twenty-seven.  Is Ms. Debtor here?"
Debtor:  "Yes, your honor."
Attorney for hospital:  (Hands judge hospital bill and other docs.)  "Ms. Debtor has failed to pay this bill.  She owes $2,000.  Here's where we sent the required warnings by mail."
Judge:  (Looks at bill, then looks at Debtor.)  "Ms. Debtor, do you dispute this bill?"
Debtor:  "No, your honor, but (insert argument about fairness or didn't receive warnings or sob story about being ill or whatever)..."
Judge:  "Judgment in favor of the hospital, plus court costs.  Next."

What will be far more productive is to work on practical strategies for getting out of debt:

1.  Great job on increasing your income by working extra shifts.  It's miserable, but bringing in more money is just about the only way to pay off debt.  I'm proud of you for doing this.

2.  If you want to build up savings while you're in debt, save in cash.  That $1,800 should not have been in the bank.  Creditors can get at it, and in this case they did.  All of your savings need to be off the radar.

3.  You're doing exactly the right thing by calling the creditor and trying to work it out.  Everyone, if you have debts that are past due, call the creditor and address the issue.  Most are willing to work out payment plans, reduce interest rates, some (like hospitals) might reduce balances in return for a lump sum payment.  It's unpleasant to deal with, but if accounts go to collection, you're often in a far worse position than if the matter had been dealt with beforehand.

Teela Renee, again, your situation absolutely sucks at the moment, but you're doing the right things.  Creditors appreciate that, and I think this will work out in the end.

Quote from: __________ on May 08, 2014, 07:39:05 AM


A couple of things.  First, focus on the future.  I'm going to ask that you ignore the advice about challenging the validity of the debt, or seeking legal help, or suing the lender/bank, because all of that is an absolute waste of valuable time and money.

This isn't directed at you, Teela Renee, but at everyone.  No lawyer will touch this case, not just because there likely is absolutely no case whatsoever (the money was owed, and medical collections at the hospital level is highly-evolved, efficient, and generally 100% legit, with very few mistakes), but because a lawyer will charge far more in legal fees than he or she would recover.  Why spend $5,000 in legal fees over a $1,800 bill with no chance of punitive or compensatory damages?  Makes no sense.  It might make sense if the bill was genuinely in dispute and was for $50,000, with clearly illegal collections practices, but over an undisputed $1,800 bill?  Nah.
2.  If you want to build up savings while you're in debt, save in cash.  That $1,800 should not have been in the bank.  Creditors can get at it, and in this case they did.  All of your savings need to be off the radar.

3.  You're doing exactly the right thing by calling the creditor and trying to work it out.  Everyone, if you have debts that are past due, call the creditor and address the issue.  Most are willing to work out payment plans, reduce interest rates, some (like hospitals) might reduce balances in return for a lump sum payment.  It's unpleasant to deal with, but if accounts go to collection, you're often in a far worse position than if the matter had been dealt with beforehand.

Teela Renee, again, your situation absolutely sucks at the moment, but you're doing the right things.  Creditors appreciate that, and I think this will work out in the end.

Absolutely spot on!

Good Luck,

Julie

Quote from: Jessica Merriman on May 07, 2014, 06:19:15 PM
This doesn't sound right to me. In my State they can't take everything. They have to leave subsistence money in place. Please call legal aid right away. You do have to receive a legal notice before this can be done. Contact your bank immediately and see if they received any legal notice and why you were not contacted about it.

I definately third this one. It seems like something pretty messed up to me. If anything they would have to take it to court and get a judgement to garnish your wages. To me it sounds like a collection agency is doing some pretty illeagal stuff and to see what they can get away with.

Yep thats why the legal aid said over the phone when I called her at work. But she did give the collections place that put the levy on it and did agree to free up some of our money. Cause some of that money belonged to our roomie. So we gotta get print ups of her paycheck deposites from the bank so we can fax it over to them and they agreeed to release that money. Which is nice since our morgage payment on the house is due soon.


I appeciate all the warm words.

If you have never been served with papers, then they should free it all up.  I am pretty sure that they can't garnish wages or freeze assets without a judgment.  For a judgment to occur, you would have to be formally served a notice that you are beng sued. If that never happened, then they never got a judgment and are operating outside of the legal system which would amount to theft on their part.  They are probably being so agreeable because they know what they are doing is not within the law.

Teela, where do you live. Because in California you can't have your wages or savings garnished, seized or frozen without a COURT judgment. I feel for you, but like others have told you, something stinks here. Good luck, hon. Hugs, Mira

Collection agencies do what they think that they can get away with. From the way you talk you were not notified of anything beforehand. The bank may have been shown false papers but I have never heard of a collection agency freezing a bank account, garnishing wages yeah but through a court ruling. Usually a collection agency will try to scare you on the phone or just bug the crap out of you until you pay. Are you sure this isn't a case of a sort identity type theft in the guise of a collection agency? Are the funds still in your account but just frozen? Have you contacted this collection agency and figured out where they are based out of? This whole deal sounds fishy and extremely illegal to me if not just an out and out scam. People in tens of thousands of dollars in debt don't even have this happen to them and why I'm thinking it may very well be a scam.

Some time back I co-signed for a $2000 loan for a TG friend against my better judgment, I anguished over it but being a sap I did it anyway. She lost her job and it turned out that she had previously stolen someone else's ID. She left the area in a hurry leaving me holding the bag. A collector for this well known national loan company called me and told me the $2000 was due in full by the end of the month or I was going to jail for fraud. I talked to a lawyer who called the collector and said that what was said was illegal and to cease and desist or they would be paying me. End of problem, never heard another word out of them again, that was almost ten years ago. It did leave a negative mark on my credit report but that will be gone soon too not that I even care.

Teela it's worth a consultation fee to have a chat with an attorney, they can often times lessen the impact or turn it around completely. Good luck hon!

Quote from: Shantel on May 09, 2014, 11:25:38 AM
Some time back I co-signed for a $2000 loan for a TG friend against my better judgment, I anguished over it but being a sap I did it anyway. She lost her job and it turned out that she had previously stolen someone else's ID. She left the area in a hurry leaving me holding the bag. A collector for this well known national loan company called me and told me the $2000 was due in full by the end of the month or I was going to jail for fraud. I talked to a lawyer who called the collector and said that what was said was illegal and to cease and desist or they would be paying me. End of problem, never heard another word out of them again, that was almost ten years ago. It did leave a negative mark on my credit report but that will be gone soon too not that I even care.

Teela it's worth a consultation fee to have a chat with an attorney, they can often times lessen the impact or turn it around completely. Good luck hon!

Exacltly what I mean about collection agencies. Pretty much they are extortionists that try to bully and scare people into paying. Once a lawyer gets involved it is a totally different story.

Don't live in the US (Australia) so this may not apply. 

I work for a utility.  As you would expect, we have a % of non-payers for normal everyday reasons.  Where we agree with the customer to a repayment arrangement (you go for the lowest repayment you can get), we can't take collection activity any further - it just has to stop.  Its a good thing to remember so that if you end up financially distressed, there can be ways to stop the process.  Also ensures that for things like power and gas you don't get disconnected.

In these things, the earlier you start communicating, the better. 

Quote from: EmmaD on May 10, 2014, 11:11:59 PM
Don't live in the US (Australia) so this may not apply. 

I work for a utility.  As you would expect, we have a % of non-payers for normal everyday reasons.  Where we agree with the customer to a repayment arrangement (you go for the lowest repayment you can get), we can't take collection activity any further - it just has to stop.  Its a good thing to remember so that if you end up financially distressed, there can be ways to stop the process.  Also ensures that for things like power and gas you don't get disconnected.

In these things, the earlier you start communicating, the better.

Yes so many people refuse to communicate and shoot themselves in the foot thinking it will just go away, it is a big mistake they will work work with you even if you don't have a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out of.

Quote from: Shantel on May 09, 2014, 11:25:38 AM
Some time back I co-signed for a $2000 loan for a TG friend against my better judgment, I anguished over it but being a sap I did it anyway. She lost her job and it turned out that she had previously stolen someone else's ID. She left the area in a hurry leaving me holding the bag. A collector for this well known national loan company called me and told me the $2000 was due in full by the end of the month or I was going to jail for fraud. I talked to a lawyer who called the collector and said that what was said was illegal and to cease and desist or they would be paying me. End of problem, never heard another word out of them again, that was almost ten years ago. It did leave a negative mark on my credit report but that will be gone soon too not that I even care.

Teela it's worth a consultation fee to have a chat with an attorney, they can often times lessen the impact or turn it around completely. Good luck hon!

My Lawyer that helped me a few years back when I broke my arm at work helped me out, He did me a favor and gave them a call. They  are a legitimate collections agency. They did try to contact me multiple times they fax'ed the proof over to my lawyer. The hospital had my number in the system wrong so the collection agency couldnt reach me.  My lawyer talked to them and got them to remove they released some of my money to me (Should be released to me by the 16th) And we are negociating a payment plan. I gotta fax over proof of income and that I cant meet their current demand for payment so the supervisor can work with me.   But its gonna be rough.  :-\   


On a side note,  today may. 11th is my birthday and only my mother and my bartender remenbered. how lame is that.

Quote from: Teela Renee on May 11, 2014, 09:29:28 AM
My Lawyer that helped me a few years back when I broke my arm at work helped me out, He did me a favor and gave them a call. They  are a legitimate collections agency. They did try to contact me multiple times they fax'ed the proof over to my lawyer. The hospital had my number in the system wrong so the collection agency couldnt reach me.  My lawyer talked to them and got them to remove they released some of my money to me (Should be released to me by the 16th) And we are negociating a payment plan. I gotta fax over proof of income and that I cant meet their current demand for payment so the supervisor can work with me.   But its gonna be rough.  :-\   


On a side note,  today may. 11th is my birthday and only my mother and my bartender remenbered. how lame is that.

I am so pleased for you Teela, things will work out and you will be feeling much better about life soon. Let me wish you happy birthday too and  say that you have made remarkable progress and are looking just darling. You are very special!
:icon_birthday:

Quote from: Teela Renee on May 11, 2014, 09:29:28 AM
On a side note,  today may. 11th is my birthday and only my mother and my bartender remenbered. how lame is that.

For me not very lame at all. It's another year that I will stay 1 year younger. ;D But happy Birthday all the same Teela.

Quote from: Shantel on May 11, 2014, 09:37:44 AM
I am so pleased for you Teela, things will work out and you will be feeling much better about life soon. Let me wish you happy birthday too and  say that you have made remarkable progress and are looking just darling. You are very special!
:icon_birthday:

aww Thanks. ^_^

Happy birthday Teela! :)

Quote from: Megumi on May 11, 2014, 02:58:32 PM
Happy birthday Teela! :)

thank you!

And another Happy Birthday Teela!!!

Quote from: Suziack on May 11, 2014, 04:43:22 PM
And another Happy Birthday Teela!!!

ditto

Happy birthday Teela! I hope all of this debt stuff gets worked out for you sweetie :)