How to Beat MBA Law

Dena Standley | August 08, 2023

Legal Expert, Paralegal
Dena Standley, BA

Dena Standley is a seasoned paralegal with more than 20 years of experience in legal research and writing, having received a certification as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal from Southern Technical College.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Fact-checked by Patrick Austin, J.D.

Attorney from George Mason
Patrick Austin, JD

Patrick Austin is a licensed attorney with a background in data privacy and information security law. Patrick received his law degree at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief for the National Security Law Journal.

Summary: In extreme cases of non-repayment, MBA Law, a third-party collection agency, may file a lawsuit against you. You must respond before your state’s deadline with an Answer. In your Answer, respond to each claim against you and assert your affirmative defenses. SoloSuit can help you draft and file your Answer document in minutes. It’s never pleasant dealing with a debt collection agency, but with SoloSuit, you can fight back and win.

MBA Law (alias Capio Partners, LLC) has several ways of attempting to force you to pay a medical debt if you fail to stay on top of it. Its representatives often call you repeatedly, write to you, threaten legal action, and if you still fail to pay, they may even file a lawsuit against you.

You may be tempted to ignore MBA Law's calls and letters. But this response (or lack thereof) will likely escalate the situation. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, around 15% of consumers contacted about a debt in collections are sued in civil court.

Unless you can arrive at a settlement that satisfies the collector, MBA Law may sue you. But SoloSuit can help you avoid a lawsuit and win if you are sued.

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What is MBA Law, and how does it operate?

MBA Law, formally known as the Law Offices of Mitchell D. Bluhm and Associates, is a debt colllection law firm based in Sherman, Texas, and has been collecting medical debt since 2008.

Mitchell D. Bluhm & Associates (MBA) and Capio Partners, LLC make up the joint venture listed under MBA Law Offices/Capio. MBA Law’s debt collection department is also known as Sherman Debt Collection Office.

If both MBA Law Offices and Capio are working together to collect your medical debt, you may receive correspondence from both companies. If your provider becomes convinced you won't pay your debt, they may sell it to MBA Law Offices, which works for the debt buyer CF Medical, LLC.

Below is MBA Law’s phone number and other contact information:

Address: 3400 Texoma Parkway, Suite 100, Sherman, Texas 75090
Phone Number: (903) 813-3805
Website: www.law-mba.com

MBA Law has received many complaints and bad reviews

If you feel like you’ve been treated unfairly by MBA Law, you’re not alone.

As of 2023, the BBB has reported hundreds of complaints against MBA Law in just the last three years. Similarly, the CFPB has reported just as many complaints against the company in the last ten years. These complaints illustrates some of the questionable tactics MBA Law uses to collect debts.

Let’s take a look at a real complaint from MBA Law’s BBB profile (edited for clarity):

“So I received a letter from the Mitchell D. Blum office, claiming I have a due balance of $106.00 from 8/13/2019 and $15.00 from 9/04/2019 from my college's hospital. I never received any messages from my school’s hospital about it. Also, I was a scholarship track athlete at the time. The head athletic trainer said that my bill is covered through the team/school, and I haven't heard of anything for 3 years since until this letter "claiming" I have a bill when I obviously don't. All of my medical stuff was paid for and by my team. It seems like this "law" office buys old records and tries to get you to pay fees you don't actually owe. I'm filing this complaint so they don't put a false ding on my credit score. Also the PO mailing box you're supposed to send money to says Dallas TX in big letters but in smaller letters next to it, it's actually sending to Concord, California? Very suspicious.”

You might have experienced something similar. Luckily, there are certain laws that MBA Law has to follow when trying to collect debt. These laws are outlined in the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

Knowing your rights under this act can help you protect yourself from predatory debt collectors like MBA Law.

You have rights under the FDCPA

If MBA Law hasn't already done so, ask them to send you a letter detailing the debt they're collecting for verification if you owe. You do this by sending a Debt Validation Letter to MBA Law.

While it's illegal for MBA Law to threaten to take you to court if they do not actually intend to, you should still take them seriously if they threaten to sue you. You can learn more about your rights under the FDPCA.

In summary, a debt collection agency cannot call you before 8:00 am or after 9:00 pm your time. They cannot call you over and over again in an abusive manner. It is also illegal for debt collectors to use threatening or abusive language when speaking to you, and they cannot contact your employer once notified that your employer does not allow such calls.

Learn more about how the FDCPA protects consumers, like you.

Medical debt and your credit report

Medical debt can negatively impact your credit score, but it does less harm than other types of debt. The Biden Administration has continued to push for changes in how medical debt affects consumers. On July 1, 2022, all three major credit reporting bureaus introduced the first phase of changes to medical debt collection reporting. Effective on that date, all paid medical collection debt will no longer be included on consumer credit reports.

In 2023, medical collection debt of less than $500 will be removed from credit reports. Currently, medical debt does not have the same impact on your credit score as other types of debt, so these additional measures will serve to offer consumers more relief from the burdensome cost of healthcare.

Respond to an MBA Law lawsuit

A debt lawsuit is initiated when you receive the court Summons and Complaint documents in the mail. The Summons notifies you of the lawsuit, while the Complaint lists the specific allegations against you.

In court, you can protect your rights, avoid costly fees, and have more control over how you pay back the debt by responding to the Summons and Complaint from MBA Law. Moreover, your Answer helps you avoid default judgment, which would give MBA Law the right to garnish your wages and seize your property.

If MBA Law sues you, follow these three steps:

Answer each claim from the Complaint.
Assert your affirmative defenses.
File your Answer with the court, and send a copy to MBA Law.

Below, we break each step down in detail. Don’t like reading? Check out this video instead:

1. Answer each claim from the Complaint

A Complaint form contains a list of allegations MBA Law has made against you. The court requires you to respond to every claim to protect your rights. In the absence of an Answer, the court will assume you have admitted responsibility.

There are several ways to respond to each claim:

Admit: like saying, “this is true.”
Deny: like saying, “prove it.”
Deny due to lack of knowledge: like saying, “I don’t know.”

Most attorneys recommend that you deny as many claims as possible. This forces MBA Law to prove each claim, and if they can’t, there is a good chance the case will be dismissed.

Draft an automatic Answer to your debt lawsuit in minutes online.

2. Assert your affirmative defenses

You can win the case with affirmative defenses because they give new information to the court on why MBA should lose the lawsuit. Ensure the affirmative defense you assert is strong enough to dent the lawsuit in your favor.

Here are the most common defenses you can use:

Statutes of Limitations: Claim that the claim was filed after the statute of limitations for debt collection had expired.
Lack of Privity: In your defense, you argue that you have no contract with the plaintiff (MBA Law). In many cases, this defense works against collection agencies.
Invalid or fraudulent assignment of debt: Claim that the debt obligations were improperly transferred to the third party.

Make the right affirmative defense the right way with SoloSuit.

3. File your Answer with the court, and send a copy to MBA Law

It's time to file after responding to each complaint and asserting your affirmative defenses. Make sure to file before your state’s deadline, which could be anywhere from 14-35 days, depending on where you live.

Here are the steps to file your Answer in court:

Make two copies of the Answer.
Mail your Answer to the courthouse or file it in person.
Mail a copy to MBA Law attorneys.
Make sure you keep a copy.

Some courts may require e-filing or have other special filing requirements, and thanks to SoloSuit, the filing research is done for you.

SoloSuit can file your Answer for you in all 50 states.

SoloSuit can help you beat MBA Law

Finding an attorney can be a stressful and expensive process. But with SoloSuit's help, you can defend yourself against debt collectors like MBA Law.

SoloSuit helps with the following:

Drafting a Debt Validation Letter online.
Generating an Answer to the lawsuit.
Filing your Answer with the court.
Settling the debt outside of court.

Let’s take a look at an example of how SoloSuit can help.

Example: Jenna had an emergency operation when her appendix ruptured. Her insurance paid for most of the expenses, but Jenna continued to receive bills and then phone calls from a laboratory. The laboratory charged more than her insurance would allow for those services, so Jenna was being harassed over a $350 medical bill. Because she had missed time from work, there was no extra room in the budget to pay this bill. Soon, she was contacted by MBA Law. Jenna used the SoloSuit to respond to the lawsuit and create an offer to settle for $200. Knowing that they had little leverage on a balance below $500, MBA Law accepted the offer. Jenna saved $150, and it only took a few minutes of her time to use SoloSuit to respond.

Let SoloSuit help you settle or win against MB Law/Capio with the right tools and strategy.

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to fight debt collectors.

You can use SoloSuit to respond to a debt lawsuit, to send letters to collectors, and even to settle a debt.

SoloSuit's Answer service is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your Answer. Upon completion, we'll have an attorney review your document and we'll file it for you.

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"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James

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>>Read the FastCompany article: Debt Lawsuits Are Complicated: This Website Makes Them Simpler To Navigate