Lester E. Cox Medical Center Ozark Professional Collections Springfield Hospital Class Action Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

PUTATIVE CLASS ACTION AGAINST LESTER E. COX MEDICAL CENTER PURSUANT TO FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT

If you received a letter or telephone call from Ozark Professional Collections after August 10, 2002 attempting to collect a debt you may be part of a potential class action against Lester E. Cox Medical Center (also known as Cox Hospital). During this time period, Lester E. Cox Medical Center attempted to collect its debts under the registered fictitious name “Ozark Professional Collections”. In doing so, Cox Hospital failed to disclose that no such entity existed, but instead Ozark Professional Collections was merely a division of Lester E. Cox Medical Center. Cox misled its patients so they would assume that their account was being turned over to an independent “collection agency.” This is a clear violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. §1692 K. CLICK HERE TO READ THE LAW .

Cox told patients with accounts due that unless payment was received they would be turned over to a “collection agency.” If no payment was made, Cox stopped writing or calling people under its own name and instead did so as Ozark Professional Collections. If a debtor asked who owned or operated Ozark Professional Collections, the debt collectors refused to answer these questions. In fact, the employee manual for Ozark Professional Collections specifically told its customer service representatives not to answer questions regarding the nature, ownership or operation of Ozark Professional Collections. As a result, the patients who owed debts to Lester E. Cox Medical Center assumed that they had been turned over to an independent collection agency rather than merely another division of Cox Hospital to collect its debt.

In a similar case, United States District Judge, Dean Whipple, has held that this constitutes a clear violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Judge Whipple stated:

“In the present case it is painfully obvious from the record that Cox Medical Centers is a creditor who, in the process of collecting its own debts, uses a name other than its usual business name—namely “Ozark Professional Collections”—to indicate that a third party is attempting to collect its debt. Indeed, OPC deliberately tries to avoid telling consumers that it is a division of Cox Medical Centers. Consequently, Cox Medical Centers is a debt collector in the eyes of the statute. Daley v. Povena Hospital, 88 F.Supp. 2d 881 (N.D.Ill 2000) (holding hospitals using its own employees for in-house collection under a misleading “doing business as” designation liable under the FDCPA).”

“The Court now turns to whether Cox violated the FDCPA’s provisions. Naturally, in light of the above ruling and the facts, the Court finds that by sending two collection letters to the Huntsman’s on OPC letterhead, Cox committed two violations of §1692e(14). Therefore, the Court grants Defendants summary judgment on Count IV.” CLICK HERE TO READ THE COURT JUDGMENT

So, if you have received a collection letter or telephone call from Ozark Professional Collections on or after August 11, 2002, you have a claim against Lester E. Cox Medical Center for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

A potential class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of all individuals who received a collection communication from Ozark Professional Collections on or after August 11, 2002. CLICK HERE TO READ THE CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT . While the court has not yet been asked to certify the lawsuit as a class action, we are registering potential class members so that if and when the court does certify the class to proceed we will have already begun the process of identifying class members. If you would like to register as a potential class member please use the CONTACT US form on this website. CLICK HERE TO CONTACT US . It asks for basic information such as your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and account information with Cox Medical Center. It also asks for the date of any communications with Ozark Professional Collections (OPC) requests that you send us a copy of any communications you have had with Ozark Professional Collections and any related bills from Lester E. Cox Medical Center, if you have them.

There is no cost or obligation to register as a class member or to participate in the class action, if and when it is certified. In turn, if the class is not certified we may pursue certain individual claims at our option, but reserve the right not to proceed with other claims if we determine it is not feasible to do so. If you have any questions regarding this matter, you may contact us at our toll free number 1/800-444-7552. For further information regarding the law firms and the lawyers who are pursuing this potential class action, please click below to be connected to their respective websites. Thank you for your interest and we look forward to hearing from you.

www.ojlawyers.com
Eric Jensen
The Law Firm of O'Reilly
and Jensen, LLC.
3432 Culpepper Court
Suite B
Springfield, MO 65804
Telephone: 417-890-1555

www.mmmpaLaw.com
Richard C. Miller
Monsees, Miller, Mayer,
Presley & Amick, P.C.
4717 Grand, Suite 820
Kansas City, MO 64112
Telephone: 1-866-774-3233
1-816-399-5161
Fax: 816-361-5577

scott@montgomerylaw.org
Scott Montgomery
The Montgomery Law Firm LLC.
3432 Culpepper Court
Suite B
Springfield, MO 65804
Telephone: 417-890-1555
Fax: 417-890-1778