How far is too far when collecting a debt?

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Sean Hayden
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How far is too far when collecting a debt?

Post by Sean Hayden » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:35 pm

‘UVA has ruined us’: Health system sues thousands of patients, seizing paychecks and putting liens on homes
Zann Nelson, sued by UVA for $23,849 a few years ago, is a rare patient who fought back. The now 70-year-old Reva resident was admitted with newly diagnosed uterine cancer, bleeding and in pain when she signed an open-ended payment agreement. In court, she argued it was so vague as to be unenforceable.

She lost. The judge, according to court records, said that Nelson had “the ability to decline the surgery” if she didn’t like the terms of the deal. She lived with a lien on her farm until she managed to pay off the debt.
Nacy Sexton, who is in his 30s and lives outside Richmond, hoped he might get a break on his medical bills as a student enrolled at the University of Virginia. He was close to finishing a bachelor’s degree in 2015 when he was hospitalized for lupus. When he was unable to cover the reduced bill offered by the hospital, the university blocked his enrollment, a notice he received from student financial services shows.

“The university places enrollment holds on student accounts for many reasons, including unpaid tuition and medical bills,” said university spokesman Wesley Hester. This semester, the university has “active holds” on 20 students because of unpaid health system bills, which might or might not block their attendance, depending on when the hold was placed, he said.

Sexton still has about $4,000 to go on a bill that he said was more than $30,000 before UVA’s discount, a fundraising campaign and other payments. He hopes to re-enroll and finish his degree in education next year.

“When you get sick, why should it affect your education?” he asked.

Shirley Perry, once a registered nurse at UVA, became chronically ill, lost her job and insurance, and then needed treatment from her former employer. UVA sued her for $218,730 plus $32,809 in legal fees. She died last year at age 51, with a UVA lien on her townhouse. It was auctioned off on Aug. 7 at the Albemarle County Courthouse.
https://beta.washingtonpost.com/health/ ... ket-newtab

Particularly interesting to me is the judge's comment that the lady could have declined the surgery if she didn't understand the agreement or couldn't pay. What a twat! It doesn't take a great mind to understand that when it comes to health we might take the financial risks with fingers crossed hoping to not encounter heartless fucks in the aftermath.

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Re: How far is too far when collecting a debt?

Post by Sean Hayden » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:38 pm

That clown probably goes to church every Sunday too, and can recite the Good Samaritan story from memory. :lol:
Last edited by Sean Hayden on Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: How far is too far when collecting a debt?

Post by laklak » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:38 pm

Depends on the debt. Sometimes a leg, sometimes a kneecap, but sometimes you gotta make an example.
Yeah well that's just, like, your opinion, man.

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Re: How far is too far when collecting a debt?

Post by Sean Hayden » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:40 pm

:lol: It's easier when you've got the government on your side.

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Re: How far is too far when collecting a debt?

Post by Brian Peacock » Wed Sep 11, 2019 3:59 pm

To me outrageous levels of medical debt look like a deliberate act of state-sanctioned violence - but then again I am a bit of lefty. :tea:
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Re: How far is too far when collecting a debt?

Post by laklak » Wed Sep 11, 2019 4:37 pm

Everything goes into a limited company or family trust. Then run up millions in debt snd tell the creditors to put a lip lock on your love muscle. Works for me.
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Re: How far is too far when collecting a debt?

Post by pErvinalia » Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:18 pm

Brian Peacock wrote:
Wed Sep 11, 2019 3:59 pm
To me outrageous levels of medical debt look like a deliberate act of state-sanctioned violence - but then again I am a bit of lefty. :tea:
Debt as violence? That's stretching it a bit, don't you think?
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Re: How far is too far when collecting a debt?

Post by JimC » Thu Sep 12, 2019 12:02 am

It is certainly a way of cementing the divide between the haves and the have-nots in the US...
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Re: How far is too far when collecting a debt?

Post by Hermit » Thu Sep 12, 2019 12:12 am

The cashed-up and the dead
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Re: How far is too far when collecting a debt?

Post by Brian Peacock » Thu Sep 12, 2019 12:24 am

pErvinalia wrote:
Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:18 pm
Brian Peacock wrote:
Wed Sep 11, 2019 3:59 pm
To me outrageous levels of medical debt look like a deliberate act of state-sanctioned violence - but then again I am a bit of lefty. :tea:
Debt as violence? That's stretching it a bit, don't you think?
Nope, not when its usury, backed by a state-enforced threat of penury or death. Now shut up and pass that bong. :smoke:
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Clinton Huxley » 21 Jun 2012 » 14:10:36 GMT
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Re: How far is too far when collecting a debt?

Post by pErvinalia » Thu Sep 12, 2019 2:05 am

You're sounding like Seth when he liked to claim the taxman would turn up at your door with semi-automatics if you refused to pay your tax. Debt isn't violence. Words have meanings.
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Re: How far is too far when collecting a debt?

Post by Brian Peacock » Thu Sep 12, 2019 2:07 am

Tell that to the debt collector. :tea:

Debt is violence when its usury. Discuss.
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There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia."

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Clinton Huxley » 21 Jun 2012 » 14:10:36 GMT
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Re: How far is too far when collecting a debt?

Post by pErvinalia » Thu Sep 12, 2019 2:08 am

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Re: How far is too far when collecting a debt?

Post by Brian Peacock » Thu Sep 12, 2019 2:24 am

Argumentum ad dictionary eh? Now go and look up usury.

Debt can cause harm; ever done business with a loan shark? That harm can be physical or emotional, individual or social, it can have short- or long-term consequence for your health and wellbeing and the health and wellbeing of those around your. When those who administer debt are backed by the authority of the state, such that they can rely on laws to mandate acts which will harm others, then that's violence. I would suggest that misleading desperate people to take out a debt arrangement for medical expenses knowing full well that they can't pay it back but also knowing that an easily obtainable court order will get you their car, their house, and everything in it when they default, or that you can sell their debt on and whoever buys it can pile on whatever admin charges they see fill and easily obtain a court order to divert an amount that they determine directly from your wages, spiralling people into greater levels of destitution and despair, then that's violence. The force is there when these kinds of acts be backed by the authority of the state.
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There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia."

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"This is how humanity ends; bickering over the irrelevant."
Clinton Huxley » 21 Jun 2012 » 14:10:36 GMT
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Re: How far is too far when collecting a debt?

Post by pErvinalia » Thu Sep 12, 2019 3:18 am

Ridiculous. You'd have to consider taxation, road rules etc as violence. C'mon.
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"The Western world is fucking awesome because of mostly white men" - DaveDodo007.
"Socialized medicine is just exactly as morally defensible as gassing and cooking Jews" - Seth. Yes, he really did say that..
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"I am seriously thinking of going on a spree killing" - Svartalf.

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