Is it illegal for a collection agency to make you pay more than you owed in the first place?

Question

Meaning, if I had a balance of 500, and I had already paid 250 on the account...and they are trying to make me pay the 500...can they do that?

Answer 1

The short answer is no.  They cannot compel you to pay anything more than the value of the debt.  But it sounds like there may be miscommunication between the CA and doctors office about the amount owed or possibly accrued late fees.  You need to contact the CA with evidence you paid that $250 and also demand proof you owe that amount. By law they are required to respond within 30 days. This should be done via certified mail.  If they now own the debt, which is the likely scenario, contacting the doctor is useless as they no longer are legal holders of the debt.  

Answer 2

Do you have proof that you already paid $250?  It could be that their system wasn't updated to reflect the payment (a common problem with collection agencies).  Send them a copy of your cancelled check.

You can ask the collection agency to provide a detailed statement showing added fees and interest.

Answer 3

No, of course not. Past-due accounts accrue interest and penalty fees.

Answer 4

is there intrest on the account? was it sold and the previous company didn't report what you had paid?

need to know these to know the answer

Answer 5

No it not illegal, because of all kinds of late fees. But that doesn't mean you have to pay the late fees or the initial amount you owe them, most collection agencies buy your debt for a fraction of what you owe. For example you owe $500 on your credit card, after failure to pay your debt and all the late fees it's then sent to a collection agency but they only had to pay .50 on the dollar for your debt, equaling $250. But they still try to get the initial 500 plus the late fees.

After several attempts to collect they may settle for much less, because they only paid $250. I hope this helps