Medical Business Bureau or MBB is a third-party collection agency that specializes exclusively in healthcare collections. MBB has received consumer complaints alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) such as failing to verify debts and attempting to collect debts not owed. If you have been contacted by MBB, understand your rights before taking action.
The harassing company pays our fees.
They’re legit. According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), Medical Business Bureau is a legitimate collection agency, founded in 1932. The BBB established MBB’s profile page in 1997. Buzzfile estimates Medical Business Bureau’s annual revenue at $1.8 million.
According to its website, “Medical Business Bureau is focused 100% on the healthcare industry and provides professional and cost-effective revenue recovery solutions for hospitals, physicians, medical practices, billing companies, and other healthcare related specialties.” MBB cites its strength in adapting to the dramatic changes in the medical profession since its inception, enabled by its primary goal of providing “strategic value to clients through professional customer service and best-in-class revenue cycle management services.”
All of MBB’s clients are from the healthcare industry. Their collection staff provides early out services; insurance follow-up; credit balance follow-up; hospital revenue cycle management; physician practice solutions; accounts receivable “wind-downs” or “clean-ups”; and other outsourcing services such as insurance pre-screening, payment reminders, and post-treatment follow-up.
MBB’s Compliance page indicates that when the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was initially implemented, Medical Business Bureau “did the research and produced their own HIPAA agreements.” Their Consumer Resources page offers to help consumers understand “why a specific service was rendered or why…insurance did not pay what they thought it should have paid,” but it does not contain any links or references to consumer protection laws, agencies, or resources relating to debt collection.
Who are we? We are Lemberg Law, a Consumer Law Firm
Lemberg Law is a consumer law firm helping victims of collection harassment and abuse. We are ranked A+ by the BBB. We’ve helped more than 15,000 consumers stop harassment and recover money from debt collectors. Harassed? Abused? Misled by a collector? Call our Helpline today! There is no charge unless we win.
The BBB has closed 66 complaints against Medical Business Bureau in the past three years, with 20 closed in the past twelve months. The majority of complaints allege problems with billing and collections; however, almost half indicate problems with advertising and sales. Since March 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has received 46 complaints about MBB. Justia lists at least 7 cases of civil litigation naming Medical Business Bureau as a defendant.
Medical Business Bureau, LLC
1460 Renaissance Drive, Suite 400
Park Ridge, IL 60068
Telephone: (800) 438-8146
Website: http://www.mbb.net/
It is illegal for a debt collector to make empty threats to sue you or garnish your wages. It is also unlikely MBB would sue you for a debt you may not owe or they cannot validate. However, debt collection agencies are known to have summoned debtors to court and garnish wages after a default judgement. Contacting an attorney BEFORE this could possibly happen would be a smart move. We’ve helped thousands of consumers fight back against unscrupulous debt collection harassers. Find out if we can help you too today!
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Unlawful Debt Harassment? Learn the Law & Sue the Collector.
Absolutely. You can sue a debt collector. Here are some Sample Complaints
Complaints against Medical Business Bureau frequently cite problems resulting from inaccurate reports of delinquencies to the credit reporting agencies and confusion about verification of debts. For example, in July 2017, a complainant indicated that MBB had reported a delinquency on his credit report that did not belong to him. The complainant indicated the bill should have been sent to his father, who has the same first and last name, but a different middle initial. After contacting MBB, the complainant reported that the MBB representative told him, “We don’t contact the credit bureaus for things like this.” The complainant insisted that because it was MBB’s error, they were responsible for correcting it, but the representative responded that the complainant would have to contact the credit reporting agencies and request that they contact Medical Business Bureau. In response, MBB claimed not to have made a mistake, insisting that “the credit bureaus…placed it on the wrong person’s file and we cannot request deletion as we do not have an account for the wrong individual.” Furthermore, they insisted that they “cannot delete something from someone’s credit… if we do not have any account for that person. Just having a name, which is the same as the account we have will not be enough information. The consumer needs to contact the credit bureaus as they are the entities that have placed it on the wrong file.”
In June 2017, a complainant indicated a negative item had been placed on his credit report, but he had never been contacted about any delinquent accounts. He claimed that the bill in question had apparently been sent to collections 2 ½ years previously, but he was only finding out about it at the time of the complaint via an inaccurate report through the credit reporting agencies. He insisted further that he believed his medical insurance should have paid for it, but may have failed to bill correctly. He requested a valid claim with itemized billing and denied responsibility for interest charges as a result of MBB’s failure to contact him. In response, Medical Business Bureau indicated the bill had actually already been paid and that they had requested the information be removed from his credit report.
Federal laws protect you. The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) regulates the behavior of collection agencies by prohibiting actions such as the use of abusive or threatening language; harassment; or the use of false or misleading information to collect a debt. The FCRA regulates how collection agencies and creditors report delinquent debts to credit reporting agencies. Additional consumer protection laws include the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA).
Yes. If you want to enforce your rights, or recover money for violations — you need to sue. Federal laws provide individuals like you with a means to seek monetary damages in court. For example, the FDCPA allows consumers who have been violated to recover damages of up to $1,000, plus attorney fees and court costs.
You may have a case, if…
“The group at Lemberg Law was professional, courteous, and effective. Their grasp of consumer protection laws and guidelines are second to none, and they work extremely difficult to ensure this procedure is client-friendly.”
“After a few months of frustration with a debt collector, I eventually called Lemberg Law. It was among the best financial decisions I have ever made. Jody and her staff were comprehensive, useful, and above all else powerful. I highly recommend their services and thank them for their continual efforts.”
“I just wanted to let you know we received the check from your office on now and I wanted to take some time to inform you that we really appreciate all of your efforts in this matter.”
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Sergei Lemberg is an attorney focusing on consumer law, class actions related to automotive issues, and personal injury litigation. With nearly two decades of experience, his areas of practice include Lemon Law (vehicle defects), Debt Collection Harassment, TCPA (illegal robocalls and texts), Fair Credit Reporting Act, Overtime claims, Personal Injury cases, and Class Actions. He has consistently been recognized as the nation's "most active consumer attorney." In 2020, Mr. Lemberg represented Noah Duguid before the United States Supreme Court in the landmark case Duguid v. Facebook. He is also the author of "Defanging Debt Collectors," a guide that empowers consumers to fight back against debt collectors and prevail, as well as "Lemon Law 101: The Laws That Lemon Dealers Don't Want You to Know."
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This company put 6 delinquent bills on my report in one day preventing me from getting a mortgage, they have not sent me any letters and have started texting me in which they do not have my permission to, I also didnt give anyone permission to give them my medical file .Lemburg has helped me before, hopefully they can help with this.
Collections places with Medical Business Bureau which are duplicates, even triplicates, and many were paid. They will not remove these or send my copies of the bills.
I have 6 delinquent accounts with MBB. I don’t know if legit or not. Approximately $600.00 in total. I don’t even have a # to call them to verify the validity of charges. HELP
My husband has received a letter from Medical Business Bureau. Saying he owes $1356 in medical expenses. He insisted that his insurance had covered it. When I called the hospital, the billing department verified that all his expenses had been covered. He had no outstanding bill and so nothing was sent to collections. I called MBB and informed them that this was not a legitimate debt, and they wanted documentation to prove it. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I want them to leave my family alone and quit trying to extort us for money we do not owe.