Debt Collection

I was born into debt collection. In 1953, both my parents quit high school in their final year. In 1953, if you quit school, you were a social pariah; no one would hire you, because it was deemed that if you quit school, you would also quit your job. My parents did find work at a small mom and pop diner, but it barely paid the rent, so we moved to a run-down apartment next to the railroad tracks. The medical bills for my birth were overdue, and the debt collectors came to our apartment. In the 1950s, there were no debt collection laws, so debt collectors did everything possible to collect what was owed.

We moved five separate times to stay ahead of the collectors. One day, a postal worker showed up; however, it wasn’t the post office; it was a debt collector wearing a postal uniform, so we moved again and left the state. We lived in a broken-down, roach-infested apartment in Maryland, but that was all that my parents could afford. We lived there for two years until the debt collectors returned. My parents made a midnight move, borrowing a friend’s car, and moved back to the place of my birth in New York. We moved three more times; the debt collectors were back. They came to me while I was in school and threatened all of us with bodily harm, so we moved again. My father found work at a small, local movie theater, while we lived in another rat and roach-infested apartment—though my mom did her best to keep the place as clean as possible. I slept on the couch in the living room and my parents slept on a Murphy bed that came with the apartment. Our strug- gles didn’t seem to matter.

The debt collectors came back again; only this time, they set fire to the theater and told my dad that if he didn’t pay, our family would be in the burning theater, so we moved three more times. With all of these moves, my grades suffered. On top of that, teachers didn’t want to tutor someone who might move away at a moment’s notice, and for the same reason, kids don’t want to play with them. But things started to look up. My father found work at a retail warehouse, and he found a nice, small house that cost $20 a month. We lived there for five whole years.

Then the debt collectors were back again. My mom took me to see a doctor when my throat became inflamed; she paid the doctor bill by bartering with the doctor—paying him with home-cooked meals. The doctor said I needed my tonsils removed, so I was put into the hospital for surgery. As the bleeding wouldn’t stop, the doctor was required to return for an additional surgery. That medical bill drove my parents further into debt.

When I was born, the hospital bill had everything included, but this new hospital billed for everything separately— down to the toilet paper. The hospital brought in their own debt collection company. This time, the debt collectors came in with a van and emptied the entire house of everything that wasn’t nailed down; they took our clothes, beds, dishes, and even our pet dog. Once again, we made a midnight move to upstate New York. I was now 14 years old, and my parents told me that I needed to go to work to help with the bills, so I found work as a bag boy at a grocery store. And again, the debt collectors came back.

On payday, the debt collector came to the store and took my paycheck to apply to the debt that my parents owed, so when I graduated high school, we moved one more time. I found work as a security guard, and yet again, the debt collector followed us and contacted my employer to garnish my paycheck to put toward my parents’ debt. They continued following me. In 1972, I found myself in the Army, making $200 a month, $100 of which was taken out to pay the debt collectors. This time didn’t hurt me as much as before, as I at least had “free” food and a “free” place to sleep. In 1974, I finally paid off my parents’ debt, but I kept sending them my monthly allotment. They moved into a nice home, where they stayed for 20 years. In 1988, my father was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer, at which time, he incurred more debt, but thankfully, debt collection and reporting laws had been enacted. One is called the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) (October 1970); another is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) (March 1978).

The things that the debt collectors did in the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s were now illegal, but that didn’t and doesn’t stop the bad debt collectors. At one point, after the debt collection and reporting laws were enacted, I was working as a medical biller in South Florida. I was living with my mother, who had cancer, and she had a ton of medical bills due to her diagnosis and treatment. One morning, two men in grey suits knocked on her door, and without approval, they barged into the mobile home and displayed official-looking badges. I asked to see them.

The badges stated Homeland Security. I demanded to see other identification; the leader said that wasn’t necessary.

I went into the other room and called the director of Homeland Security. He asked to speak with the two men; they left immediately and never returned.

The doctor I started working with told me that my first task was to find a good debt collection company since he was displeased with his debt collection company’s work. I recognized that the company had been stealing from him, so I fired them immediately. They weren’t happy and asserted that the doctor worked for them and not the other way around. After securing all of the documents for my doctor, including computer data, I also sent a certified letter terminating the debt collection company. I had to involve the bank regarding bank transfers between the account for my provider and the debt collection company. The debt collection company hired a lawyer to sue my doctor and me, but my doctor had a much better lawyer, who sued the debt collection company, which decided to settle out of court, my doctor making back the money he lost.

One day, I was speaking at a medical billing seminar, and at the seminar was a debt collection company. After I finished speaking, we discussed my need for a good and honest debt collection company. They were just what I was looking for, so I created a contract, which my doctor’s lawyer reviewed and approved.

The contract between the doctor and the debt collection company outlined the following:

1. None of the money would go into the debt collection company’s bank account; all money would be deposited into the doctor’s bank account.

2. The debt collection company would produce reports showing deposits and withdrawals once a week.

3. The debt collection company could not be given any accounts for at least 30 calendar days. This was to prevent seeking an account that had pending insurance claims.

4. No accounts would be placed into debt collection that had Medicare or Medicaid.

5. All value accounts had to be worked.

6. There was no penalty if we wanted an account returned to us.

7. There would be test accounts sent to them to validate that they could produce the work.

8. We were to review all statements produced to see what they were sending out.

9. We would insert a “dummy account” to check the phone calls made to the dummy account.

This list was based on my experience with the terminated company. As a few examples, they would demand accounts, including some unpaid accounts that still had insurance claims pending payment, and when the insurance company paid the claims, the debt collection company took credit for the work and was paid their 40% for nothing. The previous company would also only work accounts that had a high dollar value, and they would ignore any low value accounts. Additionally, the terminated company made phone calls that clearly violated both state law and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. I learned this when I got a call for the dummy account and the caller refused to identify who she was and who she represented; she informed me that if I didn’t pay the bill for the dummy account, I would be arrested and sent to jail immediately. When I returned the call to the company owner, he denied that his employee called me, but he didn’t know that the call went to my voicemail; however, even after the owner listened to the voicemail, he still denied the call ever happened. As a result, his company was immediately terminated.

I went through at least five different debt collection companies before I found the company that I met at the billing conference. The company I hired at the conference was called Mnet Financial. With most debt collection companies, they specialize in one form of debt over another, such as credit card debt. Mnet specializes in medical debt. My doctor stayed with Mnet for almost 10 years until he decided to retire from medicine. In all of those 10 years, at no time did we have any issues with Mnet, and they are the only debt collection company I recommend or endorse.

My mom’s debt finally ended when her cancer returned, and she was placed into hospice. While the debt collectors didn’t want to give up, and tried going after me and my siblings, they quickly learned that I knew all about debt collecting. Every now and then, I get a letter telling me I owe a debt from 40 years ago, so I use the FDCPA to fight back, and they give up.

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