How Not To Get Your Baby Repossessed

10 Nov, 2013

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ROCKFORD-
Nobody walks out of a hospital with their little newborn baby thinking it could be repossessed. Things happen; parents fall into unforeseen financial hardship and just don’t have the funds to cover their monthly expense of a child. The loss of a job or unexpected 4 day drinking and strip club binge can quickly make it impossible for the owner of a new or used baby to keep up with payments to the hospital. After falling behind, the hospital and finance company can repossess the baby and, barring a procedural violations, they have every legal right to. Unfortunately, it often isn’t so simple.

Hospitals often live up to the stereotype of committing fraud against their customers, leaving them with a baby that isn’t worth nearly as much as they paid for it.
It’s difficult to justify making a large payment month-after-month for a baby that is constantly requiring attention and time away from work. Why would someone keep paying for a baby that’s constantly at the doctor for checkups and shots and isn’t what they bargained for?

One reason to keep paying the hospital is to have leverage. If the parents still have possession of the baby, and can keep it from being repossessed, they may have a strong Baby Fraud Case against the hospital. By suing the hospital and finance company, they may be able to get back their 3 day hospital stay and any other moneys they invested into the birthing room expenses. Regardless of whether someone falls behind on payments because they lost their job or are mad because they did not finish high school, the hospital can still repo the baby. There are some important tips on how to stop a baby from being repossessed that may help you or someone you know in the future.

Keep in touch with the hospital

When the parents choose a hospital and subsequently get financing, the finance company is equally liable for the terms of the contract. Simply falling behind on payments and crossing your fingers that your baby won’t disappear in the middle of the night is not the right approach when trying to stop your baby from being repo’d.

Often times, the finance company can work with the parents of the baby to get their payment reduced for a period of time in order to get caught up on the hospital loan. Parents who call to let them know when to expect payment, and how much they can expect, are much less likely to have their baby repossessed. Just as with credit card companies,Hospitals have the ability to work with their debtors when it comes to the repayment schedule.

In the United States, repossessions are carried out pursuant to state laws that permit a creditor with a security interest in goods to take possession of those goods if the debtor defaults under the contract that created the security interest.
Many consumers mistakenly believe that they are legally entitled to a “grace period” that prevents hospitals from repossessing babies until the payments are a certain number of days overdue. In reality however, grace periods are non-compulsory business practices that have been adopted by most consumer lenders

RKFD News will have more on this and other stories sooner than later.