Hospital Debt-Collection Lawsuits Spur New Ways to Push Back (1)

Nick Mostris had hoped to buy his parents’ home, situated on the outskirts of Baltimore County, from his brothers after their mother died in 2019.

Yet an almost 30-year-old hospital bill accrued by his father, who died in 2007 after a long battle with brain cancer, put that dream out of reach.

Mostris, a stagehand who still lives in the area, and his brothers discovered a lien on the property stemming from almost $26,000 owed to Fallston General Hospital, now part of University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health. That debt, originally about $6,000, ballooned because of court fees and interest ...