Bondanza v. Peninsula Hospital & Medical Center

Opinion

MOSK, J.

The issue in this case is whether a hospital is guilty of an unlawful or unfair business practice (former Civ. Code, § 3369; now Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq.) if it assigns a patient’s account to an *263agency for collection and the agency’s commission of one-third of the balance due at the time of assignment is assessed against the patient on the basis of his promise to the hospital to pay a “reasonable . . . collection expense.” We conclude that this practice is impermissible under the principles set forth in Garrett v. Coast & Southern Fed. Sav. & Loan Assn. (1973) 9…