I have noticed that almost everyone on here is dealing with the same debt collectors and usually they break the laws. I think the reason is because there are good debt collectors but the original creditors would rather dump the debt cheaply to the worst collectors.

That's why it's best to communicate only by mail That way, you have documentation.
IF the letter PROVES you owe money, and you do not dispute it, THEN call them and work something out.

guest--your best bet is to hop on over to budhibbs.com and take a look at the "agencies to avoid" list. There are currently 266 different collection agencies listed there, and several of those listings are actually for groups of companies, or for a company that has changed its name over and over again. So, we arent talking about only the same few CA's here. Today it seems that the problems we are facing are the rule rather than the exception. And, the problem is growing. The latest trend seems to be these junk debt buyers that buy 10, 20, or even 30 year old debts and then tries to strong-arm people into paying them. STatute of limitations means nothing to them and neither does the law. And, with record numbers of people taking out payday loans, this problem will only keep on growing.

Thanks for all the responses... something to remember is that people come here because they are having problems with a collector... if the collector/debtor relationship is professional and on the up and up then there is no reason for the debtor to post here. Complaints are going up because delinquencies are going up --- I think credit card delinquencies are closing in on 5% - up a percentage from a year ago.


Times are tough - and going to get tougher over the next year or two. Ive seen references to the collection industry and how its a good time to get into it. Not true.
Maybe two to three years from now but definately not now.

Typically a credit card company works an account for 180 days after the last payment. Then the accounts are sold in huge batches called portfolios. The company I work for - which is quite small by collection standards purchased $860 million dollars worth of debt from HSBC. HSBC charged interest and penalties on these accounts for six months - and knowing what HSBC charges in interest and fees - original purchases are approximately 50% of the amount sent to collections. Looks like a big loss for them eh? Yeah, right. All these accounts are approximately one year from chargeoff... certainly not long enough for someone to financially recover from the jobloss, illness, divorce etc.

Unfortunately, portfolios are bought and sold like any other commodity in this country. You wonder why you never received a call? Some portfolios are "warehoused" meaning not ever worked, kind of like leaving your corn in the silo until next year when you might get a better price for it.

And so, Id rather do what I can to educate people on both sides of the coin than get lawyers involved. That goes for both sides. I am more than happy to spend time on the phone with someone giving them information and resources.

Is it possible to include links to other sites... tried adding one and I got a note that told me to "please remove the link and post"

previous is imadebtcollector

I totally agree with you Skydivr...

Please tell me if I am right or wrong.


debt collectors don't care about breaking the law. Lets say they have 100 people who owe $2,000 each and they harass and threaten all of them. The debt collector picked up a $200,000 portfolio at .08 cents on the dollar, being $16,000.

Now lets say that 98 of these people pay up because they are scared of being sued. Now the company just made $180,000.

Now the other 2 people are smart and sue. $1,000 for fdcpa violations plus attorney fees, about $2,500 for instance. Now this debt collector owes $7,000 divided by 2 people.

Total profit, $173,000. They played hard broke many laws and still walked away smiling.

Yes, that's why debt collectors are despised. It's all about the con game. If you can con people, you can get what you want.And a lot of debt collectors are con artists.


And they call debtors scum. Hypocrites.

Not all collection agencies are bad, there are some debt collectors out there that do actually want to work with in clearing the debt. I've dealt with some that are quite civil and even friendly. Unfortunately there are far more that are uncaring and abusive with no regard to laws. These are the ones that give the industry itself such a bad name.

__________________
Regards
JCEMT

Here is a list of resources for the community

Site TOS

Yes, I meant to say there are exceptions. You don't hear many stories about good things, usually it's negative. That's why a person assumes it's all bad. One bad apple, you know. But there are lots of bad apples among the good.

Do you all sometimes have problems with your server? I havent seen and responses to questions in two days - but the information about "most recent posts" seems to be current on the front screen....

There were apparently some server issues as I couldn't login until just this morning. These problems had occurred throughout most of yesterday afternoon/evening.

__________________
Regards
JCEMT

Here is a list of resources for the community

Site TOS

I wasnt sure if it was personal --- kidding.

lol.

I recently paid a settlement for a student loan to a junk debt buyer and I will like to know if they pay the Dept of Educ or they keep the money. The student loan does not have a statute of limitations and the dept of educ will collect forever.

Check with the DOE to see what your balance is on the account.

__________________
Regards
JCEMT

Here is a list of resources for the community

Site TOS