A lot of Minnesota residents who are pursued by debt collectors for a medical debt don’t actually owe the bill in question. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), debt collectors are prone to going after the wrong people. There are also frequent issues with incorrect billing and inaccurate record keeping. Minnesota consumers shouldn’t panic if a medical debt collector calls. However, if you’re fairly certain that there’s been a mistake, you should take action quickly in order to protect your credit score.
Minnesota Residents should know that Medical Debt Mistakes Happen Frequently
Medical debt is confusing in Minnesota and in every other state. Health insurance, while helpful, further complicates the issue. Most Minnesotans have a hard time wrapping their heads around hospital and doctor bills. Plus, there are deductibles to consider, and the services provided by hospital specialists who are not in your insurance network.
This is why recipients of Minnesota healthcare may often second guess themselves when contacted about medical debt that they’re fairly sure they don’t owe. You may think that all of your bills are paid. But was something left out?
Medical debt collectors can be persistent, and some Minnesota consumers might opt to just pay them off to get them to stop calling. Yet, this may not be the answer. According to the CFPB, complaints about medical debt are the second largest cause of debt collection complaints that they receive. Also, two-thirds of complaints received about medical debt collection are from consumers who claim that they don’t actually owe anything. These consumers report that the debt was paid, it was discharged in bankruptcy, or it doesn’t even belong to them.
How Minnesota Consumers should Deal with Abusive Medical Debt Collectors
There’s another issue that consumers in Minnesota have to deal with when it comes to debt collectors: Many of them use abusive or harassing tactics when pursuing payment. Data collected by the CFPB indicates that some medical debt collectors have even impersonated doctors when calling consumers. There are, in fact, documented cases of debt collectors who call Minnesotans at work and pretend to be doctors.
These medical debt collectors sometimes use aggressive tactics when pursuing debts that Minnesota consumers may or may not owe. They’ll call repeatedly, sometimes at all hours of the night, they’ll contact family members, and some debt collection agencies make threats that they don’t have the authority to make.
Fortunately, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is in place to protect consumers against unscrupulous debt collectors. Minnesota residents should know that they have the power to make abusive medical debt collectors stop. They can also rid their credit reports of medical debt that has been wrongly reported to the credit bureaus.
You can get help with both of these issues from a FREE credit repair lawyer.
The Free and Legal way to End Debt Collector Harassment
At Minnesota Credit Repair Lawyers, we’ve had years of experience when it comes to stopping debt collector harassment. We’ve also been cleaning up credit reports for consumers since 2008 for free. How do we do it? All of our fees come from the defendants in settled cases. This is why our clients pay nothing for the work we do.
Let’s start the conversation about what we can do for your credit. Set up your free consultation today by calling Attorney Gary Nitzkin at (888)293-2882 or sending him a message through our contact page.
