Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Florida

Hello,

does the statue o limitation gets interrupted when you leave the state where it occurs? I mean if this happened in 2003 and i was not a resident in Florida but a tourist and i left Florida in 2003 and went back to Germany, has the statue of limitation passed now in 2014 or it has not been passed cause i have left the state where i was as a tourist in 2003? I went back to Florida several times but just as a tourist never as a resident�.and i never was a resident in FL.

background:

Hello,

in 2003 i was a tourist in Florida and had treatment in the emergency room and . I paid 4000 Dollar in cash. At that time, i was told this is the amount to be paid. I also asked for the medical records and the hospital failed to give them to me for several months. I was told, that they got lost. I had to fly back to the use, in order to get them a year later.

End of 2003 i received an invoice of 18 000 Dollar (!!) and i wrote them back, that i would question the amount and the service for it. I told them to get back to my insurance. In 2004 i had a letter from a collection company and i wrote again back, that i paid and the other amount i questioned it. I did not hear from them until 2012 when i got a letter from a collection company from Europe now. The amount is now much less and every time they write to me this amount various (gets less).Under german law the limitation of service for medical bills are 3 years, i guess in Florida there is a limitation as well, 4 or 5 years depending if its seen as a written contract or oral, right?

After the company did not get any reaction from my side, they wrote me yesterday, that the limitation of service stops if you leave the State of Florida but i was never a resident of Florida and i gave the hospital my proper address in Germany.What is the statute of limitation is this case, it has been now 10,5 years. My biggest concern is, that the limitation of service stopped when i left Florida, is this correct? Would they still have a chance to sue me in Florida? They would need to have a title anyway but i guess this title would be useless to enforce in Germany as it is expired here. But is it expired in Florida? Would i have problems to enter the state?

I wonder, why they never sued me, if its not expired in Florida.

Thanks a lot,

regards


Asked on 2/22/14, 12:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Matthew Mazur Matthew Mazur, P.A.

The SOL does not stop if you leave the state. Based upon your background story, it appears that this collection company may be violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Florida Consumer Protection Act. You should save all documents you have received and contact a consumer attorney to have them review the documents to see if there is a violation present.

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Answered on 2/23/14, 4:39 am


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