State AG Settles with Hospital and its Collection Agency on Unlawful Collection Practices

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced Tuesday that Hampshire Memorial Hospital and Mosaic Finance Solutions will each pay the state $7,500 as part of an agreement, called an assurance of discontinuance, to end unlawful debt collection practices.

Morrisey’s Consumer Protection Division began investigating Hampshire Memorial Hospital and Mosaic after learning that the hospital required consumers to sign a consent form subjecting them to certain collection practices if their accounts became delinquent. The hospital allegedly required patients to sign the form as a condition of receiving medical care.

“Catastrophic medical bills sometime push consumers already facing difficult circumstances over a financial cliff,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “My office will remain vigilant to ensure that only lawful means are used to collect legitimate debts and that all companies collecting debts in West Virginia are properly licensed to do so.

The investigation discovered 11,541 West Virginia consumers signed the form, which required them to agree to several conditions, including:

• waiving their homestead exemption;

• allowing their account to be subject to an interest charge of 7 percent on the unpaid balance;

• being liable for Hampshire Memorial’s attorney fees of 25 percent of the balance due plus collection expenses

• receiving autodialed and prerecorded debt collections messages on their cell phones

According to the investigation, Hampshire Memorial employed Mosaic, a North Carolina company that was not licensed to collect debt in West Virginia at the time, to pressure consumers with delinquent accounts to sign credit agreements that converted the Hampshire account into a debt that accrued interest at the rate of 7 percent per month. Records disclosed by Mosaic indicated that 277 West Virginia consumers had signed the credit agreements.

“Mosaic did become licensed to collect debts in West Virginia after our office became involved,” Morrisey said. “But the company has signed the assurance as a promise to refrain from certain other unlawful debt collection tactics it engaged in as well.

In addition to promising to end the alleged unlawful practices, Hampshire and Mosaic each agreed to pay $7,500 to the State of West Virginia that may be used by the Attorney General for a variety of consumer protection purposes or be held for appropriation by the legislature.

“This assurance of discontinuance is a positive step for the state and should serve as a reminder to debt collection agencies that they need to follow the laws if they want to do business in West Virginia,” Morrisey said.