Internet's first get-out-of-debt community - 134,000 members

I heard on the news this morning that ABC News had been investigating unlawful collection practices! They had a woman who was receiving threatening calls from a collection agency start recording the calls - this guy actually said something to the effect of "I'm going to end your life" to this woman on the phone.

I didn't catch the whole report, just the little blurb they put on the radio, but what a victory for the consumer!

Alright....which one of you ladies went to ABC News?!? LOL Laughing

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:35 am Subject:

Here is the link He said what?

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:55 am Subject:

These guys have been watching a little too much "Soprano's." What are they gonna do- go sick Paulie on the poor woman?

If some guy told me that, I would say "you'll have a hard time getting paid if I'm dead."

Just like the phone companies have caller-Id and call-forwarding and such, they should have a call-record option that will record your calls for you. If everyone had proof to back up their complaints, these places would be shut down so fast...

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 7:11 am Subject:

hometwoemail - thank you so much for posting the link!

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 7:32 am Subject:

I will have to listen to this link later today. It's good to know that some of these clowns are being investigated though.

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 7:39 am Subject:

Ya know - I have always wondered something about recording phone calls. Here's my brain in action (step back...this could be scary):

Federal law states that if you send out a radio signal, you have the right to build a machine to intercept it. This is how radar detectors are legal (in all but 2 states).

Now, if you are talking on a cordless phone, you are sending out a radio signal. Couldn't you capture that signal and record it, using it in a court of law without getting busted by any laws that talk about both party consent?

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 7:46 am Subject:

I think it should be completely legal to record calls without consent from the other party. If that collector had known he was being recorded, I'd be willing to bet he'd have been singing a different tune.

The collection industry has good apples and bad apples - we all know that - but the bad apples are getting out of control.

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:10 am Subject:

Thanks for the info Sue!1 Maybe this will catch on, and others will be investiated! I emailed my congressmen,etc., and collectors, and they all responded! Most didn't have a clue what was going on in the world of collections, and said they would ask around, look into it and keep it in mind when talk to others. Guess if we keep spreading the word, maybe it will get out!..Karen

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:05 am Subject:

Thanks for posting that Sue. I would definitely be freaked out if I heard something like that. Can you imagine how people that aren't as "collector savvy" as some of us, would react? Geez.

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:35 am Subject:

I was floored when I heard it on the radio this morning - I thought "I have GOT to put this on the forum!"

I guess we're not the only ones who have dealt with bad collection practices - and we're not the only ones noticing and doing something about it. The only thing I had to take issue with was the fact that the report on the radio stated that they were advising people to record the phone calls and file complaints on the collection agencies. The problem with that is they didn't mention that recording calls without consent is illegal in some states, and could land you in a boatload of trouble. Maybe not as much trouble as the collection agency would be in, but still...

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 12:00 pm Subject:

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 1:14 pm Subject: unlawful collections

Suebeehoney70 i just love your information
about bad debt collectors.
i think your work is excellent and
i congratulate you.thanks!!!!!i go to
read again.

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 1:46 pm Subject:

OMG!!! Some of these calls are awful..and the one about him saying that they need to go back to Mexico and then laughing and then "watch me big boy". If he were to call here, I would probably tell him what I thought about collectors...

Thanks for the info...

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:02 pm Subject:

Sue, what great information! Thanks for letting us know. I'll be going to that link after work tonight. It only makes sense that collectors like these aren't using their brains and it's only a matter of time until they get caught.

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 5:02 pm Subject:

Just an update - there's a whole episode of 20/20 this Friday night on ABC that is dedicated to debt and collection - and this topic, illegal debt collecton practices, is covered as well. It's on ABC at 10 pm Eastern Time on Friday night.

I would definitely advise everyone to watch it!

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 5:22 pm Subject:

I will definitely watch...it completel blows my mind that it's such a wide spread problem. When I got my first threatening call, I didn't know what to do...but then I found this site and it's helped me tremendously. I think that showing a program like this is going to help out a lot more!

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NEWS FLASH....ABC NEWS INVESTIGATES UNLAWFUL COLLECTION!

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