Med. Recovery Servs., LLC v. Neumeier
Med. Recovery Servs., LLC v. Neumeier
Opinion
*374 This case centers on efforts to collect payment for medical services. Medical Recovery Services, LLC ("MRS"), a licensed collection agency, appeals from a district court decision affirming rulings of the magistrate court in favor of the patient. We affirm the district court's decision.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
In late 2012, Jared Neumeier received medical services from Dr. Eric G. Baird, a medical provider operating through Idaho Falls Surgical Specialists, PLLC. During his visit, Neumeier provided Dr. Baird's office with information regarding his Blue Cross of Idaho insurance coverage. Neumeier left the office expecting that the bill would be submitted to his insurer. Following his visit, for reasons that are not part of the record, the office did not submit the bill to Neumeier's insurer, and instead sought payment directly from him. The office sent the bill to an incorrect address.
In April 2014, without a response from Neumeier, Dr. Baird's billing agent assigned the delinquent account to MRS for collection. Pursuant to the assignment, MRS acquired Dr. Baird's contractual rights in the agreement with Neumeier, as well as interest in any claim against Neumeier for payment of services in the amount of $1,190.28. Thereafter, MRS continued to try to contact Neumeier by sending him mail at an incorrect address. Throughout this time, Neumeier did not receive any of the attempted communications from Dr. Baird or MRS, nor did he receive any other form of demand for payment related to his visit. During this same time, Neumeier saw Dr. Baird for other unrelated medical services, which resulted in a separate bill that Dr. Baird's office submitted to Neumeier's insurer for payment.
In April 2015, MRS sent a letter addressed to Neumeier at his correct address. The one-page letter-which was attached to MRS's complaint and is the only communication to Neumeier from either Dr. Baird or MRS found in the record-took the form of a notice letter under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692a -o. In addition to stating Neumeier's contact information, the notice letter provided an amount of debt ($958.63 exclusive of interest), the name of the creditor (MRS), and paraphrased recitations of the required inclusions under the Act. The undated notice letter did not identify Dr. Baird or connect the debt with a particular bill or treatment.
On May 14, 2015, without a response from Neumeier, MRS sent the account to its legal counsel with instructions to file an action to recover the debt. Thereafter, on Saturday, May 16, 2015, Neumeier returned home from a two-week vacation and first opened the notice letter. On Monday, May 18, 2015, Neumeier visited Dr. Baird's office under the belief that the notice letter was a fraud or scam. During this visit, the office discovered that it had never submitted the bill to Neumeier's insurer; however, the office also informed Neumeier that the account had already been assigned to MRS for collection. On the same date, MRS filed a complaint against Neumeier, seeking a total award of $1,891.37, including $958.63 for the principal amount, $282.39 in statutory prejudgment interest, and attorney's fees and costs. The next day, Neumeier contacted MRS and was informed that he was "too late" because the account had already been forwarded to its legal counsel. Thereafter, Neumeier contacted MRS's legal counsel, which told him that he owed over $1,800. A month later, Neumeier was served with the complaint and summons.
Subsequent to Neumeier's May 18th visit, Dr. Baird's office submitted the bill to Blue Cross for payment. As shown by an explanation of benefits form that Neumeier received from the insurer, Blue Cross paid all but $42.66 of the bill, which was designated as a copayment balance. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Baird's office notified Neumeier that it was waiving the copayment balance. The office also informed MRS that the account had been satisfied, and MRS in turn notified its counsel. The record is silent as to how MRS's contractual rights and interest in any claim against Neumeier related to the post-assignment interaction between Dr. Baird and Neumeier.
*375 Once the account was satisfied, Neumeier reached out to MRS in an effort to have the debt collection action terminated. MRS refused, and Neumeier moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Idaho Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The motion was supported by an affidavit from Neumeier. MRS filed its opposition-with an affidavit from an MRS manager-in which it sought denial of the motion and requested that the magistrate court enter summary judgment in its favor for the amount of $0. At a hearing on the dismissal motion, the magistrate converted Neumeier's motion to a summary judgment proceeding. The magistrate ultimately granted summary judgment in favor of Neumeier while denying the same for MRS, and, in turn, entered judgment for Neumeier and awarded him attorney's fees and costs as the prevailing party.
Following a motion from MRS, the magistrate set aside the judgment and allowed the parties to submit supplemental briefing on the unresolved issue of MRS's entitlement to statutory prejudgment interest. Thereafter, the magistrate ruled that MRS was not entitled to prejudgment interest. Accordingly, the magistrate reinstated and affirmed its prior decision, awarded additional fees and costs to Neumeier, and entered judgment in favor of Neumeier. The magistrate later denied MRS's motion to reconsider, and a first-amended judgment was entered to reflect an award of additional fees and costs to Neumeier.
From there, MRS appealed the matter to the district court. The district court dismissed the appeal after MRS failed to timely file the requested transcript and to pay the required transcript fee. The district court subsequently reinstated the appeal after finding that MRS's failures constituted excusable neglect. The court eventually affirmed the decisions of the magistrate and awarded Neumeier additional fees and costs. MRS now timely appeals to this Court.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
When reviewing a decision of a district court acting in its capacity as an appellate court, this Court
reviews the trial court (magistrate) record to determine whether there is substantial and competent evidence to support the magistrate's findings of fact and whether the magistrate's conclusions of law follow from those findings. If those findings are so supported and the conclusions follow therefrom and if the district court affirmed the magistrate's decision, we affirm the district court's decision as a matter of procedure.
Losser v. Bradstreet
,
III. ANALYSIS
This case turns on the summary judgment decision. Once the underlying bill was resolved independent of the litigation, MRS acknowledged that it was no longer seeking collection of the principal amount and instead sought summary judgment for $0. Even with that amount, the summary judgment analysis influenced the subsequent decisions on prejudgment interest and attorney's fees and costs. MRS appeals each of these decisions, arguing that the district court erred in affirming (1) summary judgment in favor of Neumeier, (2) the denial of prejudgment interest, and (3) the determination of Neumeier as the prevailing party. Both parties claim they are entitled to attorney's fees and costs on appeal.
The dispositive question running through each of these issues is whether the debt underlying MRS's claim was valid. In an action for debt collection, it stands to reason that a debt collector can only be entitled to recover on a valid debt. Both the magistrate and district court concluded that there was never an amount due and owing against Neumeier, and, consequently, MRS was not pursuing a valid debt. Under the above-stated standard of review, we must consider whether
*376
this determination is based on legal conclusions drawn from factual findings that are supported by substantial and competent evidence in the record. If that is the case, we will affirm the decision of the district court as a matter of procedure.
Losser
,
A. The District Court Did Not Err in Affirming the Decision of the Magistrate to Grant Summary Judgment in Favor of Neumeier.
MRS argues that granting summary judgment in favor of Neumeier was in error, and that, instead, it was entitled to summary judgment. We review a grant of summary judgment under the same standard used by the trial court.
Read v. Harvey
,
As a preliminary matter, Neumeier contends that MRS waived any challenge to the magistrate's summary judgment decision when it failed to raise the issue in its brief on appeal before the district court. Although MRS did not expressly raise the issue in its brief, the district court addressed the argument under Idaho Appellate Rule 35(a)(4) because the issue was subsidiary to MRS's express argument against the magistrate's prevailing party determination. MRS also expressly raised the issue in its amended notice of appeal and Neumeier engaged the issue. We find this proper under Rule 35(a)(4).
Griffith v. Clear Lakes Trout Co.
,
Turning to the substantive issue, MRS raises four arguments in support of its position that summary judgment for Neumeier was in error: (1) the record does not establish that an express or implied-in-fact condition precedent existed under the contract between Dr. Baird and Neumeier; (2) the district court wrongly constructed an implied-in-law condition precedent under the contract; (3) the district court mischaracterized factual findings in the record; and (4) the district court's ruling is contrary to sound reasoning and public policy.
The first two arguments require consideration of the agreement underlying this dispute. The record does not provide an express written or oral contract between Dr. Baird and Neumeier; however, the evidence showing the nature of the arrangement between the parties establishes that there existed an implied-in-fact contract.
Kennedy v. Forest
,
MRS contends that summary judgment was erroneously premised on a finding that Neumeier's obligation to pay was subject to a either an express or implied-in-fact condition precedent that is not found under the contract, or the judicial construction of an implied-in-law condition precedent that is not necessary to attain a just result. "A condition precedent is an event not certain to occur, but which must occur, before performance under a contract becomes due."
Weisel v. Beaver Springs Owners Ass'n
,
Without a written or oral agreement, the existence of a condition precedent expressed in the same is not at issue. Nonetheless, MRS's arguments also account for the possible application of an implied-in-fact or implied-in-law (or "constructive") condition precedent. Starting with the former, "[c]ontractual conditions are implied in fact when those conditions are necessarily inherent in the actual performance of the contract." 17A C.J.S. Contracts § 449 (2017). These conditions are implied from the express language used by the parties or from the surrounding circumstances. 13 Richard A. Lord, Williston on Contracts § 38.11 (4th ed. 2017). In his treatise on contracts, Williston further sketched the nature of implied-in-fact conditions:
Conditions may be expressed not in the usual and appropriate language for conditions but by the very nature of the thing promised. A promise to deliver goods necessarily involves the condition that the promisee will take delivery; a promise to repair another's house involves the condition that the promisor will be allowed access to the house. These conditions may be called conditions implied in fact or necessary conditions. They are in the nature of express conditions except regarding the mode of their satisfaction and proof; that is, there must be literal compliance, or no duty will be triggered.
Therefore, to determine whether summary judgment was proper as a matter of law with respect to a possible implied-in-fact condition under the relevant contract, we must first look to the facts in the record. Taken as a whole, a clear conclusion emerges from the following undisputed facts that the contracting parties' intended for a condition to exist: In late 2012, Neumeier received medical services from Dr. Baird, shared his insurance information with Dr. Baird's office, and left with the expectation that the office would submit the corresponding bill to his insurer pursuant to the information he provided. From there, the office did not submit the bill to his insurer, but instead pursued payment directly from him by sending mail to his attention at an incorrect address. Given this error, Neumeier did not receive any of the mail, nor did he receive any other communication concerning the relevant bill from Dr. Baird's office following his visit. During this time period Neumeier received other unrelated medical services from Dr. Baird, which resulted in a separate bill that was thereafter submitted to Neumeier's insurer by the office. Two and a half years after his initial visit, Neumeier received the notice letter from MRS. In response, he returned to Dr. Baird's office to investigate the matter, at which point the office discovered that it had never submitted the bill to Neumeier's insurer. From there, the office submitted the bill to Neumeier's insurer and received payment after a contractual discount. Dr. Baird waived the remaining copayment balance.
These facts, which are drawn from a pair of affidavits from Neumeier, represent the entirety of the evidence in the record pertaining to the parties' conduct under their implied-in-fact contract. While there may be
*378
other
possible
evidence indicating that insurance billing was done as a courtesy only and that Neumeier was responsible for the charges without regard to whether or when payment was received from the insurance company, the undisputed factual findings set forth above are not controverted by
actual
evidence in the record. Unlike the situation in
Medical Recovery Services, LLC v. Strawn
,
MRS's third argument against the summary judgment decision is that it was founded on a mischaracterization of the facts. MRS specifically points to the following analysis from the district court's decision:
In this case, no Party disputes that once the procedure was performed, the charges were subject to at least two adjustments before any amount could be considered due and owing. First, where Neumeier had medical insurance, the charge was subject to a contractual adjustment for the benefit of Neumeier and his insurer. Second, the charge would be reduced by payments made by the insurer after the contractual adjustment. Only then could an amount due and owing by Neumeier be determined.
MRS argues that the district court incorrectly stated that it did not dispute that the bill was to be submitted to Neumeier's insurer before an amount could be considered due and owing against Neumeier. Rather, MRS contends, Neumeier owed an amount after he received the medical services, which included any portions that were eventually paid by his insurer.
We agree with MRS to the extent that it has consistently disputed the legal conclusion that a conditional element needed to be satisfied before an amount became due and owing against Neumeier. Even though our analysis of that issue is distinct from that of the district court, we reach the same result because, as discussed above, the undisputed facts drawn from the record establish that the contracting parties intended for the bill to be submitted to Neumeier's insurer before he was obligated to pay an amount due and owing. Therefore, even if the district court was incorrect in stating that MRS did not dispute this conclusion, MRS has not offered evidence to show that a factual dispute as to that conclusion remains.
MRS's final argument against the summary judgment decision is that sound reasoning and public policy support a ruling it its favor. MRS's argument is not geared at a specific violation of public policy, but instead contends in a less direct manner across numerous hypotheticals that the summary judgment ruling was wrong. Generally, MRS asserts that the ruling will have widespread negative implications for the medical services industry. To be clear, our decision here should not be read as creating a blanket rule that bills must be submitted to an insurer before payment is due and owing. Rather, this decision is grounded in the record and facts specific to this case. The conditional element is a product not only of the evidence of these particular contracting parties' conduct, but also the lack of any evidence suggesting another conclusion should apply.
In sum, MRS has not demonstrated error in the decision to grant summary judgment in favor of Neumeier. Because the district court affirmed the magistrate's decision, we affirm that decision as a matter of procedure.
*379 B. The District Court Did Not Err in Affirming the Decision of the Magistrate that MRS Was Not Entitled to an Award of Prejudgment Interest.
MRS next asserts that the district court erred in affirming the magistrate's decision that MRS was not entitled to prejudgment interest under Idaho Code section 28-22-104. Before reaching that question, the parties first dispute whether the district court applied the proper standard of review when it reviewed the magistrate's decision for an abuse of discretion. MRS contends that this was an error, and that de novo review was proper because whether to award prejudgment interest if such interest is capable of mathematical computation is a question of law.
We review an award of prejudgment interest under the abuse of discretion standard.
Dillon v. Montgomery
,
Turning to the merits of the issue, the fate of MRS's argument is contingent on there having been an amount due and owing against Neumeier. In other words, consistent with the summary judgment analysis, an award to MRS for prejudgment interest necessarily required there to be a valid debt upon which interest could accrue. As discussed above, this was not the case.
Notwithstanding, MRS supports its argument with citation to a pair of provisions under the prejudgment interest statute, which read as follows:
(1) When there is no express contract in writing fixing a different rate of interest, interest is allowed at the rate of twelve cents (12¢) on the hundred by the year on:
....
2. Money after the same becomes due.
....
6. Money due upon open accounts after three (3) months from the date of the last item.
I.C. § 28-22-104(1). These provisions are applicable here in so far as there was no express, written contract fixing an interest rate. Yet, neither supplies the crucial element missing from MRS's argument-an amount due and owing-and therefore neither provides MRS with the interest it seeks.
In reverse order, the second provision has no application in this case, because the contract and payment at issue do not fit the definition of an open account as it is used under section 28-22-104. Namely, "[a]n open account refers to a continuing series of transactions between the parties, where the balance is unascertained and future transactions between the parties are expected."
Seubert Excavators, Inc. v. Eucon Corp.
,
*380
MRS also cites to
State Drywall, Inc. v. Rhodes Design & Development
,
In total, the record and the law support the magistrate's conclusion that MRS was not entitled to prejudgment interest where there was never a principal amount due and owing against Neumeier. The district court affirmed, holding that the magistrate did not abuse its discretion in reaching that conclusion. As such, we affirm the district court's decision on this issue.
C. The District Court Did Not Err in Affirming the Determination of the Magistrate that Neumeier Was the Prevailing Party.
Next, MRS contends that the district court erred in affirming the magistrate's determination that Neumeier was the prevailing party. MRS asserts that the district court's decision was erroneous because the magistrate's ruling was an abuse of discretion. MRS argues the magistrate should have found that MRS was the prevailing party because (1) it should have prevailed on summary judgment, (2) it should have been awarded prejudgment interest, and (3) some of the principal amount was recovered after the lawsuit was filed.
"A determination on prevailing parties is committed to the discretion of the trial court."
Crump v. Bromley
,
As discussed above, we hold that the summary judgment and prejudgment interest decisions in favor of Neumeier were proper because there was never an amount due and owing against him. That conclusion is not affected by the fact that the underlying bill was satisfied after MRS filed its complaint. Therefore, contrary to MRS's assertions, the record shows that the magistrate's determination as to the prevailing party was supported by substantial and competent evidence and well within its discretion. Therefore, the district court's decision affirming that of the magistrate is likewise affirmed.
IV. ATTORNEY'S FEES
Both parties contend that they are entitled to attorney's fees on appeal pursuant to Idaho Code section 12-120 and Idaho Appellate Rules 40 and 41. In addition and in the alternative, Neumeier argues that he is entitled to fees under section 12-121 because MRS's appeal merely asks this Court to second guess the district court opinion. Under either section 12-120 or section 12-121, only the prevailing party is entitled to fees on appeal.
Clayson v. Zebe
,
Neumeier argues that if he is the prevailing party, he is entitled to fees under section 12-120(3) because the underlying lawsuit concerned payment on a contract for services. That statute provides, in relevant part, as follows:
In any civil action to recover on an open account, account stated, note, bill, negotiable instrument, guaranty, or contract relating to the purchase or sale of goods, wares, merchandise, or services and in any commercial transaction unless otherwise provided by law, the prevailing party shall be allowed a reasonable attorney's fee to be set by the court, to be taxed and collected as costs.
I.C. § 12-120(3). In this case, MRS brought its action to recover on a bill arising from a contract for medical services. Thus, Neumeier is entitled to fees under section 12-120(3) as the prevailing party. Because section 12-120 provides a basis for an award of fees to Neumeier, we need not consider his alternative argument for the same pursuant to section 12-121.
V. CONCLUSION
We affirm the decision of the district court and award attorney's fees and costs on appeal to Neumeier.
Chief Justice BURDICK, and Justices JONES, HORTON and BEVAN concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- MEDICAL RECOVERY SERVICES, LLC, an Idaho Limited Liability Company, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Jared NEUMEIER, Defendant-Respondent.
- Cited By
- 10 cases
- Status
- Published