Opinion No.

Honorable Mike Atkins County Attorney Ector County Odessa, Texas 79761

Re: Sale at a discount and `with recourse' by county hospital of accounts receivable from patients.

Dear Mr. Atkins:

You ask if a proposed financial arrangement between the Odessa Medical Center Hospital and a state or national bank would be illegal under Texas law. We have not been furnished a proposed contract, but you explain:

Under the transaction in question, if a patient proposed to pay his account at the hospital in installments over a period of time in excess of 60 to 90 days, that account could be sold and assigned to…