credit questions about an old debt.?

Question

My husband was injured at work before we were married nearly 6 years ago. His boss took of safety measures on machines to maximize efficiency and create injuries. My husband has his left hand almost torn off. Within a few months later, the guys skipped town. And, with many surgeries later, there is over 30,000 dollars in debt. They wanted my husband to pay despite it being a workers compensation claim, but the employer had NO INSURANCE. We FINALLY found the boss about 9 months ago. We won the case against him in the workers compensation claim. I presented it to all of the debtors I had calling and writing. They stopped calling, and writing. I was hoping it was over, but I am still afraid that something will happen. Can they still come after us, if we have a judgement saying that ALL BILLS are to be paid by the former employer? It even lists out all of the companies and bills. This is just for peace of mind. Please help!

I appreciate all the help. Echo...to respond to you. We send a copy of the judgement letter ONLY to the ones that were sending us letters, and calling, not to the others that we are aware of, because they were not contacting us and I dont have addresses, etc. I have what I saw on the judgement with names from the court papers. There was only a couple extra, and they were for only like under 300. I dont think they much care (who knows though). We got the BIG ones. But...I think we are getting new calls from someone, it keeps coming up as unknown caller, and they leave no message. Legally can they still come after us if we sent them that judgement letter?? Or can they do whatever they want???

Answer 1

I don't know where the first poster comes up with the 7 year collecting SOL. Perhaps that poster is confusing the collecting SOL with the reporting period (?)
The reporting period is 7 years from the date of service with the medical provider.

With medical accounts, IF the medical provider receives "any" funding from federal, state, civic funds, a SOL defense, on it's own, may be no defense. The accounts would be considered the same as any federal/state debt with no collecting SOL.

I don't know if you sent the comp info to the original medical provider or to a collection agency. If you sent the info to the medical providers, then you would retain protection through the HIPAA laws.
If you sent the info to collectors you would have waived HIPAA protection.

Since you provided the creditors/collectors with the comp papers, your husband might send a written request that they send your husband a letter stating that they consider the accounts as paid in full.
Do all correspondence with a collector in writing, not by phone.
Do not sign any letter that goes to a collector, only print initials or type the name.
Always send the correspondence by certified mail return receipt.
(A signature on a letter is fine if you are dealing with the medical provider, but it should still be sent by cert. mail return receipt)

If you have those statements from them, in writing, keep them in a safe place - forever.
If you have those statements from them, in writing, you can probably relax (if you dealt with collectors you might stay on your toes, keeping an eye on his credit reports or for any dun letters from that same collector or another, never trust them)

Order his credit reports and check to see if the accounts are being reported. If they are, dispute them.

You might click on my profile and click on the last link listed.
It is a "free" credit discussion board.
Do some reading in the medical forum, you will also find free sample letter templates for disputing with the CRA's (if the accounts are reporting)

I'm sorry your husband went through the pain of his injuries, then having to deal with the buttheads that skipped town leaving both of you in the lurch. I hope he has recovered.from the injury.

edit+++++++

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner.

As far as "collectors thinking they can do whatever they want", many do like to think they can.

As for the smaller bills that you don't know the addresses for, you might go to the BBB website and put their name in and also check your husbands credit reports to see if they are listed and with an address.
You should do as much research as you can to find them so you can send the judgment info. Someday they might decide to come after your husband and he would have more protection if it's proved that they were informed of the judgment.

As for the calls, it could be for the smaller bills, it could be the collectors that you had already sent the papers to or it could be from brand new collectors that either purchased the accounts from either the smaller bill collectors that weren't informed or the collectors that were informed and just decided to sell off the accounts (without including the papers you sent) rather than bother with trying to collect from the former employer.

As for whether they can legally still try to collect from you, I sincerely doubt it, but it's hard to say without knowing how the judgment reads.
If the judge claimed your husband was totally absolved (or not) of the debts. If the judge ordered the former employer to pay the collectors, a court appointed trustee, your husband (and your husband pay the collectors), if the judge absolved your husband (or not) but did not order the ex-employer to actually pay anyone, etc., etc., etc.

If your husband used an attorney to sue the ex-employer, he should really speak with that attorney.

Your husband should also order his credit reports and dispute anything the collectors have listed on them.

In the mean time, if a collector calls you might find out who it is. Stay on the phone ONLY long enough to ask the company name and address, then hang up and send them a copy of the papers immediately.
Even if it's a collector that you had previously sent the papers to, send them again (be sure to "always" notate on the cover letter that it is the second, third, etc., time you have informed them of that judgment).
Be sure to send everything to a collector by certified mail return receipt. Your husband should not sign the cover letter, only print his initials or type his name.

You might purchase a telephone recorder. Depending on the state you live in, you can either tape without telling them or you are required to tell them.
If you live in one of the following states, you MUST inform them you are taping: California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, Delaware, Montana, Florida, New Hampshire, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington.
Any other state you are not required to inform them you are taping.
You should also take a picture of the caller ID when they call.
The reason I mentioned doing that is if you create a trail and the same collector continues to call after being informed of the judgment, you may possibly be able to sue that collector for the harrassment.

If the same collector continues to call/write after receiving the papers, file complaints with the BBB, FTC, your AG and the collectors AG. Things may or may not change when contacting some of those agencies, but you would be creating a papertrail proving that you have done as much as possible to deal with the situation and it will look good to a judge if you should decide to sue the collector.

Again, if your husband used a lawyer, he should consult with that lawyer. The lawyer would be able to give a more informed opinion on dealing with the collectors since he/she would have the actual judgment papers in front of him/her.

Answer 2

Many states have laws that don't allow a collector to pursue you after 7 years, so in most states this question will become null in a few months. Just keep a copy of your judgement handy with a prewritten letter. If someone calls you keep sending copies. Find out what the laws are in your state regarding how long you can be pursued regarding a debt. If the time is near or has expired, be sure to tell the creditor that you know about the regulation and that the cannot call you in the future.
Best of luck regarding this in the future. What an awful predicament!

Answer 3

The above poster is wrong. Most states have NO laws regarding collectors trying to collect. Negatives fall off your credit report after 7 years and 180 days. But that has nothing to do with collectors. They can follow you to the grave.

Hopefully, all those folks trying to collect the medical bills are now pursuing the former employer and you won't be hearing from them again.

Answer 4

IF you EVER get a call, letter from a collection agency (not the original creditor) immediately send a certified letter, with all account info, stated you you no longer wish to hear from them regarding the matter. Federal law requires them to only contact you once after receiving such a letter. Most of the time they leave you alone

Answer 5

Once a debt defaults it's going to be for your file for as much as 10 years (relying for your state) Since you mentioned that the debt continues to be accumulating curiosity and a penality cost, then it's going to stay there unti you maintain it by means of paying it off... if making a decision to settle the volume, the account will exhibit closed/cost off for your file for as much as yet another 10 years.. your fine guess is to name them make a scheduled fee association and keep on with it... when you move four months with no past due fee, it will begin relocating your FICO rating again up once more.

Answer 6

You will need to take whatever docs you have proving what you claim and send them over to the three bureaus....
Or if you are in the process of obtaining a loan you can have the credit report updated within 2 weeks (let your loan company call thier credit reporting service) many shops call this "score plus" or "score magic" It increases your score / removes items that dont belong to you, but only for the sake of the loan and loan company you are applying for.

I learned all of this stuff from this guide:
http://klooger.niesong.hop.clickbank.net/