A medical bill from St. Francis Medical Center, which resulted from a mold invested rental (in which ** also represented the owner of this property) was turned to collections with **. I agreed to make monthly payments on this medical bill. My bank contacted me yesterday to advise that they had received a garnishment from Hollins for the entirety of this bill. As I discussed with the bank representative and as she could clearly see from review of my account, monthly checks had been written to ** and had cleared my account. She agreed. After multiple attempts to contact Hollins, I finally reached something other than voice mail. I quickly realized this office had no idea what they were doing or why. In short, I advised, yes, I had made the agreed payments.
I was advised that my last check was not cashed; instead, they prepared a garnishment to my bank. The focus of their office was they could not cash the check and send a garnishment to my bank. The fact that their office responded in such an unethical manner seemed to escape comprehension. I then contacted the Clerk of the District Court to inquire how such a garnishment could occur as payments had been made. The person at the Shawnee County Courthouse could provide no answer. In fact, she suggested I contact ** office and "work out" the issue. Why would anyone contact his office to "work out" an issue that he obviously knowingly created?
** is completely unethical as the only means they had of sending a garnishment to my bank was the fact that I had written checks in which my banking information was imprinted. Hollins evidently retained my banking account information; however, his records reflected an old address of almost 2 years ago---even though my current address was imprinted on the checks--clearly indicates *** priorities, huh? Aside from the unethical collection practice of bank garnishment, my bank notified me that Hollins garnishment order placed a hold on my fund of $1,339.00. Of note, is the date I agreed to payment arrangements the attorney indicated an amount due of $983.54. A review of my bank statements this evening indicates $50 checks to Hollins have cleared my bank each month beginning 10/2010. In addition, it appears that *** did indeed process a recent payment as the check cleared my bank on 2/8/2011. When I spoke with ** office, they indicated that they did not process the February payment as instead they processed a bank garnishment on 2/7/2011. This bank garnishment will result in returned checks that I have written but, to date, have not been presented to my bank.
I am seeking a release of this bank garnishment as well as all damages incurred as a result of this action which include any reasonable attorney fees in which I incur and damages up to $1,000.
