On April 13, the Washington Attorney General’s office announced that a debt collection agency agreed to a consent decree resolving allegations that it failed to provide required disclosures in medical debt collection notices, in violation of the Washington Collection Agency Act and the Washington Consumer Protection Act. The settlement, filed in King County Superior Court, requires the company to provide $1.5 million in medical debt relief and to change its collection practices going forward.
According to the allegations, consumers were not told that they could request, free of charge, the original account number, the date of the last payment, and an itemized statement showing the creditor, the dates of service, the services…