Am I responsible for my spouse's medical bills in Iowa when it comes to the FCRA?

Question

My wife forgot about a medical bill that was in her name only. She pays all her bills and I pay mine, including medical bills.

When I checked my credit history recently, the collection agency placed it on my account as though I'm a joint holder of it.

Iowa is not a "community property" state but has a law that states the following:

597.14 FAMILY EXPENSES.
The reasonable and necessary expenses of the family and the education of the children are chargeable upon the property of both husband and wife, or either of them, and in relation hereto they may be sued jointly or separately.

To me this law states that I'm not liable for my spouse's bills until I'm taken to court.

The collection agency stated this law in their letter after I disputed this a second time. Do they have this right or not to use this law for their purposes?

Answer 1

After reading that statute on Iowa's website, I found this statute (537.7103 - 5. a) referenced under 597.14

537.7103 PROHIBITED PRACTICES.
5. A debt collector shall not engage in the following conduct to collect or attempt to collect a debt:
a. The seeking or obtaining of a written statement or acknowledgment in any form that specifies that a debtor's obligation is one chargeable upon the property of either husband or wife or both, under section 597.14, when the original obligation was not in fact so chargeable.

(in my opinion, it takes the teeth out of their use of 597.14)

I've listed the Iowa home site - you can enter the Bills or code numbers in the Quick Find search box and look up your statutes.
http://www.legis.state.ia.us/

537.7103 Prohibited practices:
http://www.legis.state.ia.us/IACODE/2003SUPPLEMENT/537/7103.html

To find more links that you might want to check, click on the following link:
http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18124

If your wife wants to pay, she might think about using HIPAA and pay the original medical provider - effectively removing the collection agency (and their credit reporting) out of the picture.
http://whychat.5u.com/hipltr.html

After reading the HIPAA material and you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the Medical Subforum, located in the Credit Forum in the following link:
http://creditboards.com/forums/

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Iowa Community Property State

Answer 4

I think they could get away with it in a court of law. Sorry. This is why I firmly believe in pre-nuptual agreements that state that either spouse is not responsible for debt that is incurred by the other spouse in their name only.