Is Medical & Professional Collection Services, Inc Calling You? *

Is Medical & Professional Collection Services, Inc calling you? You may want to know this.*

American society is underscored by debt. Nearly all adults owe money to credit cards, healthcare institutions, and / or the banks that issued their mortgage, and a significant percentage have these accounts in collections.

According to the Federal Trade Commision, not all of the interactions between debt collectors and consumers are civil or ethical.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) prohibits collection agents from using abusive or deceptive tactics to obtain debt payments.

In general, they may not do any of the following:

• Use profane or obscene language
• Talk about the debt to anyone except you, your spouse, or your attorney
• Refuse to identify themselves as debt collectors seeking to collect a debt
• Threaten legal actions that they have no intention of taking
• Use an autodialer to leave a slew of pre-recorded messages
• Call you at work when your employer does not allow such calls

Alleged Violations against Medical & Professional Collection Services, Inc*

Many debt collectors, however, treat the FDCPA like a minor nuisance and circumvent it in favor of doing whatever it takes to get your money.

Medical & Professional Collection Services, Inc is a debt collection agency in Newburgh, Indiana. It was established in 1988, collects debts in Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky and is a member of the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals and Indiana Collectors Association.

Records retained by the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) website confirm that Medical & Professional Collection Services, Inc has been accused of violating the FDCPA while trying to collect consumer debts.

Benjamin Horner and Heather Horner vs. Medical & Professional Collection Services, Inc et al

On or about September 12, 2014, Medical & Professional Collection Services, Inc filed suit against Indiana residents Benjamin L. Horner and Heather L. Horner in the Knox County, Indiana, Superior Court, to collect multiple medical bills.

The Horners later claimed that they had never received a debt validation notice prior to the lawsuit commencing. They also pointed out that they were being sued together, when none of the medical debts listed were joint ones, and Indiana law stated that except for rare instances, spouses are not responsible for one another’s independent debts.

The Horners hired a consumer attorney and sued Medical & Professional Collection Services, Inc for violating the FDCPA in the following ways:

• Misrepresenting the legal status of the debt
• Using unfair and unconscionable means to collect a debt
• Asserting claims against a spouse who did not sign the particular contract sued over

The matter was later resolved.

The phone numbers for Medical & Professional Collection Services, Inc are 1-800-844-5090 and 1-812-858-6020. If you see either one on your caller ID, be aware that a debt collector may be trying to contact you.

If they attempt to make you responsible for a spouse’s debts or vice-versa, contact a consumer attorney who can help you assert your rights in court.

Misrepresenting the legal status of a debt violates the FDCPA and you could potentially receive $1,000 per violation plus attorney’s fees, court costs, and any actual damages. Whenever a debt collector goes too far with you, the FDCPA provides you with ways of balancing the scale.

*Case taken from PACER (www.pacer.gov). File number is 2:15-cv-00269-JMS-MJD, from United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana, Terre Haute Division.

Disclaimer: The content of this article serves only to provide information and should not be construed as legal advice. If you file a claim against Medical & Professional Collection Services, Inc or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.