General Category > General Questions

Liens

(1/2) > >>

dmaney:
I'm working with a chiropractor that was putting liens, or what she believe were liens, on settlements for some of her PI and WC cases.

These liens are essentially just pieces of paper that stated a patient owed her money for certain DOS that she sent over to the patient's attorney.  To my knowledge, the office never received any paperwork back on the liens, such as they were filed with the state or notarized or even acknowledged.

I work in Illinois, and it is my understanding that IL uses what is called a universal lien that needs to be filed with the state in order to make it valid.   She has A LOT of outstanding A/R due to these cases, so I advised her to discuss the matter with her attorney.

Can anybody give me some background on these liens? I don't think that what the chiropractor was doing is in any way legally binding.  We never used liens in my old practice...

Many thanks.

PMRNC:
Whether they are legally binding depends on many factors.. more importantly I'd have to know what she spent or what it's costing for these liens.. most often they are merely a waste of time. 

dmaney:
The liens went from a couple of hundred to several thousand dollars.

She never paid anything, just sent this piece of paper over to the patient's attorney. 

I don't think they're worth the paper they are written on. 

PMRNC:

--- Quote ---The liens went from a couple of hundred to several thousand dollars.

She never paid anything, just sent this piece of paper over to the patient's attorney.

I don't think they're worth the paper they are written on. 
--- End quote ---

Your probably right and the patient's attorney will most likely squash it. It's even a LONG process for the IRS to produce a lien, they cannot be arbitrarily put on.. What access did the provider have to any of the patient's assets to even get a lien?


For some wc / personal injury cases we request an LOP (Letter of protection) from the patients attorney, this ensures us payment when the attorney gets paid  :P ;D ;)  For just plain ol patient balances we evaluate amounts on a 90 day basis and measure cost effectiveness of taking it to collections or even small claims. We review those on a case by case basis. There have been cases where the amount was too large for small claims to which I will offer my clients some alternatives.

dmaney:
Please tell me more about letters of protection.  Who drafts those?  What is the process?

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page