Hospital Collection, sueing question -

[tkd]

Does anyone know if a creditor can sue you at anytime? Or if you have proof of making small regular monthly payments, is it against the law to sue you?

We are in the state of Ohio and the original creditor is a hospital (I do not believe it is a county hospital).

I have a local hospital with a very large bill and the director told me they would not accept small payments, that the smallest they would accept would be $560 per month. If I send a smaller check and do so each month and someone in their payment offices cash those payment checks, can they still sue me?

Thanks tkd

[Lightning]

If you are not paying according to the terms of the credit card, you can be sued. If the minimum monthly payment is $560, sending in a smaller amount doesn't do you much good. The company can add late fees. The company can and will cash any checks you send in because they'll want to collect as much of the money owed to them as possible before you file for bankruptcy or default completely.

[tkd]

If you are not paying according to the terms of the credit card, you can be sued. If the minimum monthly payment is $560, sending in a smaller amount doesn't do you much good. The company can add late fees. The company can and will cash any checks you send in because they'll want to collect as much of the money owed to them as possible before you file for bankruptcy or default completely.

This bill is not a credit card, but a large hospital bill. No payment agreements or anything have been signed. All discussions have been verbal. I did not agree to any large payments at all. But I was wondering if I sent them a smaller payment on a regular basis and they cashed it, if they would still be able to take me to court if I am at least attempting to pay the debt?

Thanks,
tkd

[edwards2]

tkd - we did the same thing - kind of. My husband would make these agreements with the trillion hospital and medical offices and then tell me after the fact. It did not sound like that much at first but when you multiply it times 5 or more we were drowning trying to make even the minimum payments. I will say however, that with few exceptions they did work out a payment plan and were willing to adjust it if we had to. I dont know about the court issue. Typically, they do make note of what you tell them or record it in some instances, so maybe that is considered the agreement between you and them and they are holding you to it. Collection agencies say medical bills comprise the majority of their customers.

[HRx]

Not all creditors take legal action against the debtor.

[HHM]

To answer your question, yes, they have the legal right to sue you if you are not paying them according to the terms of the original contract (which I presume is that bills are due in full) or any subsequent payment agreement. Whether they will or not is another question.

Making partial payments on a debt that is due in full with no written agreement from the creditor stating they would accept such a payment plan does not prevent them from sueing you, and they can also cash the check without legal consequence.

[brokemama]

tkd, I've worked in a hospital my entire life as an RN. 7 yrs ago, my daughter was born prematurely and spent several months in the hospital. after approx 9months of age, she was diagnosed with Cystic Fiborsis, a chronic lung problem, often life threatening illness. well, to make a long story short, we had an extremely large bill > 200,000$. At first I was threatened by the accounts folks, after explaining our situation and inability to pay more that 100$ per month, they finally relented and now we send in our payments regularly. they realized the are receiving some payment instead of nothing. and BTW, our bill was after insurance payment . It was my understanding that if you pay monthly, some amount, that they cannot do anything, because you are making a good faith payment. most of the time, they like to threaten you. I also live in OHIO and work in Ohio and would love to know what facility this is, maybe I could help do some research for you. take care.

[iggie97]

Does anyone know if a creditor can sue you at anytime? Or if you have proof of making small regular monthly payments, is it against the law to sue you?

We are in the state of Ohio and the original creditor is a hospital (I do not believe it is a county hospital).

I have a local hospital with a very large bill and the director told me they would not accept small payments, that the smallest they would accept would be $560 per month. If I send a smaller check and do so each month and someone in their payment offices cash those payment checks, can they still sue me?

Thanks tkd

Here is the deal....I needed to look a similar relevant law for my firm a couple months ago.......the law has changed many times in Ohio...give it 1 year, it will change again....many people will try to write paid in full on a check, and they argue if the creditor cashes it, they have no obligation to pay any more...that is now false in Ohio.......In the same way, the creditor accepting and cashing a check for less money than is due does not change the terms of the contract, and therefore you would technically be in default, whereby they could proceed to file suit for the remaining balance