Claire London says her mother, Regina, taught her to be responsible.
“My mother was wonderful,” London said. “She never owed a penny to anyone.”
So you can imagine London’s surprise when she discovered – months after her mother’s death – that there was a lien on her mom’s condo.
“I had no idea,” she said. “[I] called the attorney. He said that Aventura Hospital put a lien on the property for 200 and something dollars for a bill that was not paid.”
Convinced it was a mistake, London says she called Aventura Hospital.
“They said they never got paid. I verified [my mother’s] Medicare numbers, her supplement numbers and I asked them to please submit the claim,” London said.
When months passed and the lien was still in place, London offered to pay the bill. At first, she says she was told she couldn’t do that.
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“They said it’ll make it too confusing for us to file with Medicare and have you pay the bill also,” London said.
More than a year later – after dozens of phone calls – London says she was finally told she could pay the bill after all.
“So we ran down to Aventura to their department there and we paid it immediately and within a couple of weeks they released the claim,” London said.
But not before holding up the sale of Regina’s condo and causing the family to rack up hundreds of dollars in attorney fees.
“It’s very annoying,” she said. “You’ve lost a parent, you would like to finalize whatever has to be done so you could go on with your own life and, instead, it was like a daily reminder.”
After the NBC 6 Responds team got involved, London says Aventura Hospital issued a refund for the $234.83 she initially paid. They also gave her a check for $927.48 to cover the extra legal fees.
“I just want to thank you so much,” London said. “I don’t think to this day, anything would have been paid if NBC didn’t get involved.”
She has a message to others who find themselves in a similar situation.
“If you think you’re right, never give up,” she said. “Either get an explanation for why the other person thinks they’re right and get it resolved.”
Aventura Hospital told NBC they looked into the matter further and had reached out to London. In a letter they sent London with the check, they apologized for not meeting her expectations but said they were confident they’ve been able to address her concerns. London, meanwhile, is happy to close this chapter and move on.
