Articles

Colorado Senate Bill 20-211 – Limitations on Extraordinary Collections Actions

Jun 17, 2020

A bill went flying through the Colorado legislature this month and if you blinked, you missed your opportunity to weigh in on the outcome of this legislation. Senate Bill 20-211 “prohibits a judgment creditor from initiating a new extraordinary collection action from the effective date of the bill through November 1, 2020” and potentially through February 1, 2021. This is to protect those Colorado debtors who have been negatively affected by the COVID pandemic and are experiencing financial hardship. By the way, for this bill an extraordinary collection action (ECA) is defined as “an action in the nature of a garnishment, attachment, levy, or execution to collect or enforce a judgment on a debt as defined under the Colorado Fair Debt Collections Practices Act”. As of now, this does not appear to include credit bureau reporting on any account that has been placed for collection and meets the standards for reporting.

The bill sponsored by Senator’s Faith Winter and Julie Gonzales and supported by House Representative Leslie Herod, was proposed on 6/1 and was revised 2 times before passing with a 41-24 vote on Friday morning, 6/12/20. Revenue Enterprises, along with numerous other agencies, worked with the American Collections Association and the Associated Collection Agencies, Inc. of Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico to oppose the bill in its original form.  The ACA and their lobbyists worked tirelessly with the legislature to amend the bill to make it more reasonable for those providers; businesses; industries; and agencies affected, while still protecting those consumers who have experienced financial hardship because of the COVID emergency.  We thank them for their work and are proud to be a part of this movement!

A brief summary of the impacts this amended legislation presents are described below:

  • A judgment creditor (meaning a judgment to enforce collection of a debt must have been granted by the Courts) cannot initiate a new extraordinary collection action from the effective date of the bill through 11/1/20; but an order extending the prohibition up to 2/1/21 may be granted as necessary.
  • A judgment creditor shall not initiate or maintain a new extraordinary collection action during this period.
  • Judgment creditors are to provide a written notice to the judgment debtor at least ten (10) days, but not more than sixty (60) days, prior to the execution or service of a writ or legal process intended to effect the extraordinary collection action
  • The notice sent to judgment debtors should be in at least 16-point font and include the following statement: “YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO TEMPORARILY SUSPEND THIS COLLECTION ACTION IF YOU ARE FACING FINANCIAL HARDSHIP DUE TO THE COVID-19 EMERGENCY.“ The notice must include the Judgement Creditor’s Name and address; the case number and a phone number where the judgment creditor may be reached. Additional verbiage must be included notifying the debtor of the judgment creditor’s intention to execute a collection action against the debtor and outlining the debtor’s right to temporarily suspend this action due to financial hardship due to the COVID-19 emergency directly or indirectly
  • Debtors may notify the judgment creditor in writing or by phone of the hardship and are not required to provide proof of hardship
  • Additional information must be provided to the debtor on how they are to notify the judgment creditor of the need for a temporary suspension of collection action
  • The temporary suspension of collection action is not a waiver of the obligation to pay or debt forgiveness
  • Interest may continue to accrue the judgment debt during the suspension period
  • Debtors may enter a voluntary repayment plan with the creditor, but are not required to do so

With this legislation, what can healthcare providers and their collections partners do to help mitigate the impact for Colorado Healthcare Providers and other businesses pursuing outstanding debt? The answer is to work collaboratively with all qualifying consumers and patients with compassion and respect.

This temporary suspension does allow for continued attempts to work with consumers to understand and establish a plan for repayment. We can continue to use our tools to reach out to those who are not responding. Litigation can be filed during this period; however, garnishments cannot be utilized to enforce actions. New and creative ways will need to be identified and implemented to encourage consumers and patients to work with you and your agency partners to discuss their accounts. Perhaps this pause, along with expanded outreach efforts, will help more consumers and patients to see some collection agencies as a service that helps them to understand their amount due and work out ways to protect their credit and get a payment plan that allows them to continue to afford the necessities in life, rather than as a threat to their financial wellbeing. This time will surely test all of us in the industry to think of how we can better work with patients and consumers and here at REL, we will definitely be engaging to consider new ways to work with consumers and patients.

Please note that this article is for informational purposes only and offers no suggestion of legal advice or of activities that should be taken to adhere to these regulations.  To access the bill directly through the Colorado General Assembly website at https://leg.colorado.gov/sitewide-search?search_api_views_fulltext=SB20-211

References:

Colorado General Assembly. (2020, June 17) SB20-211: Limitations On Extraordinary Collections Actions, Concerning limitations on certain debt collection actions. Retrieved from https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb20-211

Karie Bostwick

VP of People and Compliance

As VP of People and Compliance at Revenue Enterprises, Karie Bostwick oversees People functions including recruiting, training, onboarding, engagement and satisfaction. Additionally, she is responsible for compliance training, oversight and monitoring.

Karie has a long history of working in the revenue cycle support industry. Her skills span leadership, operations start up, policies and procedures development, operations workflow, budgeting and client management.

She is passionate about the experience of our people, patients and the Healthcare clients we serve and believes that a team of diverse, talented and motivated individuals working together toward a common goal can make a difference.

Robert Sterett

VP of Information Technology

As a transformational leader Robert Sterrett has leveraged his 20 years of experience to build effective service lines and exceptional teams. In his role as VP of Information Technology at Revenue Enterprises, Robert excels at taking a unique, balanced, and strategic approach to technology leadership with people first for the best possible outcome. Using his experience from engineering, project management and service line management he takes a multi-faceted approach to ensure the right people are in the correct position coupled with the best technology to meet or exceed all expectations from security to compliance and business continuity.

Robert’s leadership style lends itself to building long term relationships and has consistently been a relied upon strength in many organizations. Over Robert’s time as an IT operational and project leader, he has spent significant time in both hands-on technology facing roles and client centric management roles to bring the best solutions that strive to meet the business and client needs.

Focusing heavily on his personal development skills and opportunities, Robert continues to foster coaching and mentorship relationships everywhere in his life, and the lives around him.

Douglas Dunbar

VP of Sales & Marketing

As VP of Sales and Marketing for Revenue Enterprises, Douglas Dunbar leads with a passion for building strategic partnerships, nurturing relationships, and upholding customer service excellence. In his role, Doug focuses on marketing and brand strategy, sales team leadership, and working closely with members of the management team to best serve company goals.

Doug has over 28 years of National sales and marketing call/contact center leadership, with 10 years of service specifically at Revenue Enterprises. Currently, Doug serves as part of Wyoming HFMA Chapter leadership and has held various roles in Colorado HFMA Chapter leadership for over 9 years.

In his spare time, Doug is very family oriented. Additionally, he loves traveling, cycling, golfing, fishing, hunting, and boating.

Kris Brumley, MBA

SVP/COO

As SVP/COO of Revenue Enterprises, Kris Brumley is a collaborative partner within the executive team and a leader for operational functions across the organization. Kris productively shares vision, drives innovation, and supports those around her in a way that elevates them and fosters continuous improvement and results. She has helped create a supportive environment for clients resulting in 98% client retention and a 65% NPS score for all clients and 75% for top clients by revenue.

Kris possesses an MBA in data analytics and has twenty-five years of experience in the healthcare industry, with 19 specifically in revenue cycle. She brings a wealth of customer service experience to her role and has worn many hats at Revenue Enterprises including Director of Business Development, EBO Division Director, and VP of Client Experience Management.

In her personal life, Kris is as busy outside of work as inside. She values spending time with her family, and enjoys fishing, hiking, traveling and interior decorating and design.

Timothy (Tim) Brainerd

CEO

As CEO of Revenue Enterprises for almost 20 years, Tim Brainerd leads by example. He promotes a shared vision and stewards a culture of Integrity, Passion, and Respect. He has assembled and empowered high-performing talent and teams to support customers, facilitate strategic planning and manage the capital of the company. Under his leadership, Revenue Enterprises has doubled in size three times over the past fifteen years while maintaining a culture of caring and gratefulness.

Tim has close to four decades of revenue cycle experience, including nineteen years with RSI
Enterprises. He has been a past president of Colorado Chapter of the HFMA and a presenting speaker on the topic of Leadership. He is a fifteen-year member of Vistage International, the world’s largest CEO coaching and peer advisory organization for small and midsize business leaders.

Raised in the Midwest, Tim values humble principles like being respectful, caring, passionate, self-reliant, and most importantly grateful. His most important lesson and the lesson he hopes to pass on in all relationships is living the Golden Rule–do unto others as you would have them do unto you. He is intentional in his choices and believes in making decisions, taking action, being accountable, and loving your neighbors.

Whenever possible, Tim spends his time with his wife of nearly forty years, his adult children, and his grandchildren. His hobbies include fishing, golfing, traveling as well as game nights and sharing great food with his family.