Merchants Adjustment Service, Inc. is a collection agency in Mobile, Alabama that was founded as a medical collection agency and says over 98% of its business is medical bad debt. A letter from it almost always concerns an unpaid hospital, physician or other health care bill.
- Type
- Collection agency
- Also known as
- Merchants Adjustment Service, Inc.; MAS
- Headquarters
- Mobile, AL
- Collects
- medical bills, commercial accounts, consumer accounts
- Phone numbers it lists
- (800) 239-6043, (251) 476-6666
- Website
- masinc.org
170 debt collection complaints were sent to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about Merchants Adjustment Service, 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 Merchants Adjustment Service?
Merchants Adjustment Service, Inc. is a collection agency at 56 North Florida Street in Mobile, Alabama. Its website calls it "a full service medical, commercial and consumer bad debt collection agency" serving the entire Southeastern United States. Its services page says the company was founded as a medical collection agency and that its reports, software and collection approach are geared to medical accounts. Besides standard collections, it offers health care providers pre-collection letters, early-out programs, contract billing and skip tracing. We did not find a CFPB enforcement action against Merchants Adjustment Service.
Why Merchants Adjustment Service May Be Contacting You
The company says over 98% of its business is medical bad debt. If it contacts you, the account is most likely a hospital, clinic, physician, lab or ambulance balance that a Southeastern provider placed with it. Because it also runs early-out programs, you may hear from it soon after a bill becomes past due, sometimes while the account is still being handled as a billing matter for the provider.
The agency lists a toll-free number, (800) 239-6043, and a local line, (251) 476-6666, with weekday business hours in Central time. Its site also has a validation request page and a payment page.
How to Check a Debt Merchants Adjustment Service Says You Owe
Medical balances change as insurers process claims, so the amount in a first letter is not always the final number.
- Read the validation notice. It must name the provider and itemize the balance (15 U.S.C. § 1692g; 12 C.F.R. § 1006.34).
- Dispute in writing within the validation period. Ask for an itemized bill with dates of service, the insurance claims filed and the adjustments taken. MAS must stop collecting until it verifies.
- Check your explanation of benefits. If your plan says you owe less, or that a claim is still pending or was never filed, send that to MAS and the provider.
- Ask about charity care. Nonprofit hospitals have financial assistance policies that can reduce or erase a bill, even after it goes to collection.
- Know the time limit. Texas allows four years to sue on most debts (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004), and debt buyers may not sue on time-barred consumer debt there (Tex. Fin. Code § 392.307). Alabama and other states set their own periods.
What Merchants Adjustment Service Can and Can't Do
When it collects in its own name for providers, MAS is a "debt collector" under 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6). For medical accounts in particular:
- Paid medical collections and medical collections under $500 no longer appear on Equifax, Experian or TransUnion reports; see medical debt credit reporting changes.
- It may not report the debt to a credit bureau before it has communicated with you (12 C.F.R. § 1006.30(a)).
- A Texas health care facility must send a written itemized bill before pursuing collection (Texas SB 490).
- It may not call more than seven times in seven days about one bill (12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(2)) or discuss your medical debt with anyone but you, your spouse or your lawyer (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(b), (d)).
If its collection seemed improper, see our Texas FDCPA attorneys page.
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 Merchants Adjustment Service 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
- Merchants Adjustment Service: home page
- Merchants Adjustment Service: Services
- Merchants Adjustment Service: Contact
- CFPB enforcement actions search: Merchants Adjustment
- CFPB Consumer Complaint Database: Merchants Adjustment Service, Inc., debt collection
This profile is general information compiled from public sources, not legal advice, and it does not state or imply that Merchants Adjustment Service has violated any law. Company details change; tell us if something here is out of date.