Gulf Coast Collection Bureau: Who They Are and Your Rights

Type

Collection agency

Also known as

Gulf Coast Collection Bureau, Inc.; Gulf Coast RCM; Gulf Coast, a Revenue Cycle Management company

Headquarters

Sarasota, FL

Collects

medical bills, hospital self-pay balances, probate claims

Phone numbers it lists

(866) 991-7360, (888) 839-6999, (855) 529-2671

Website

gulfrcm.com

114 debt collection complaints were sent to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about GULF COAST COLLECTION BUREAU, INC. from November 13, 2023 to November 12, 2026. A complaint is a consumer's account, not a finding that the company broke the law. Read the complaints in the CFPB database.

Who Is Gulf Coast Collection Bureau?

Gulf Coast Collection Bureau announced in June 2024 that it was rebranding as "Gulf Coast, a Revenue Cycle Management company," and it now operates as Gulf Coast RCM. Its website says the company began operations in 1998 and has its corporate headquarters in Sarasota, Florida. Its mailing address is P.O. Box 987, Tallevast, Florida. The site lists NMLS number 931242 and a Nevada collection agency license.

The contact page separates its phone lines. Consumers with questions about an account should use (866) 991-7360. Compliments and complaints go to (855) 529-2671, and clients and prospects use (888) 839-6999. The company also lists a separate unit, "PRS," with its own P.O. box in Largo, Florida, and its own phone line.

Why Gulf Coast Collection Bureau May Be Contacting You

Gulf Coast works for hospitals and other healthcare providers. It offers three kinds of services:

• Early-out or extended business office work, where it bills patients for self-pay balances on the provider's behalf before the account is treated as bad debt;
• Bad-debt collection, where it collects accounts the provider has written off; and
• Probate recovery, where it files claims against the estates of deceased patients.

Not every contact from Gulf Coast is a collection. A statement during the early-out stage may come before the account is placed for collection, so ask which stage your account is in.

How to Check a Debt Gulf Coast Collection Bureau Says You Owe

Hospital bills are notoriously error-prone, so verify the details first:

• Read the validation notice (15 U.S.C. § 1692g; 12 C.F.R. § 1006.34). It should name the hospital or provider and itemize the balance.
• Dispute in writing within the validation period if insurance should have paid, you qualified for charity care or financial assistance, or the dates of service are wrong. Collection must stop until Gulf Coast verifies the debt.
• Ask for an itemized hospital bill and your explanation of benefits. A Texas hospital or other licensed health care facility may not pursue collection until it has sent you an itemized bill; see Texas SB 490.
• Confirm the provider still owns the account.
• Check the age of the account. In Texas, the general deadline to sue on a debt is four years (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004), and debt buyers cannot sue on a time-barred consumer debt (Tex. Fin. Code § 392.307). Other states set their own deadlines.

What Gulf Coast Collection Bureau Can and Can't Do

When it collects defaulted medical accounts for providers, Gulf Coast is a "debt collector" under 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6).

• When it pursues a deceased patient's account, it must deal with the estate's representative and may not imply that surviving relatives are personally responsible when they aren't (15 U.S.C. § 1692e).
• It may not share details of your medical debt with third parties (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(b)).
• How medical collections appear on credit reports has changed; see the credit bureaus' medical debt reporting changes.
• Seven or more calls in seven days about one account is presumed to be harassment (12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(2)).

We did not find a CFPB enforcement action against Gulf Coast Collection Bureau. See whether you can be sued over medical bills in Texas, or contact our FDCPA attorneys.

We Sue Debt Collectors That Break the FDCPA

Texas Debt Law files Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuits against debt collectors in federal court for consumers in Texas, California, Illinois, Georgia and Colorado. If Gulf Coast Collection Bureau or anyone collecting for it harassed you, misstated what you owe, threatened action it could not take, or told others about your debt, you may have a claim. A court can order a collector that violated the FDCPA to pay your actual damages, up to $1,000 in additional statutory damages, and your attorney's fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)). An FDCPA claim generally must be filed within one year of the violation (§ 1692k(d)), so keep your letters, call logs, voicemails and screenshots, and talk to us early. Texas residents may also have claims under the Texas Debt Collection Act. Learn more from our FDCPA attorneys.

Free FDCPA Case Review(214) 851-2250

Or start your free case evaluation online. No lawyer can promise a result; every claim depends on its facts and proof.

Sources

• Gulf Coast RCM: home page
• Gulf Coast RCM: History & Mission
• Gulf Coast RCM: Contact Us
• Gulf Coast Collection Bureau announces rebrand (June 28, 2024)
• CFPB enforcement actions search
• CFPB Consumer Complaint Database: GULF COAST COLLECTION BUREAU, INC., debt collection

This profile is general information compiled from public sources, not legal advice, and it does not state or imply that Gulf Coast Collection Bureau has violated any law. Company details change; tell us if something here is out of date.