[cajunbulldog]

Guest you will find a hard audience here.Know this if you are truely one of the rare collectors who follow the law,your views are welcomed here.There have been tons of people here who have been hammered by the collection industry with collectors breaking laws. I don't advocate anyone not pay their bills,simply require both the consumer and the collector/creditor follow the law when dealing with the credit transactions.

[ramj70]

guest/doubleclique I don't think anyone here is advocating not paying your bills or what you owe. Also your analogy about the candy is a little off. That is called shoplifting and is a crime punishable by jail time. Defaulting on a credit card or loan is not a crime. A more apt analogy would be if the store owner gave me the candy bar and told me I could pay it back later and I did not make full payment. Now if someone gets a credit card or PDL with the purpose of not paying back then yes they get what they deserve, but the majority of people are not like that and do want to pay back their debts.

Regarding if I personally loaned someone money and they didn't pay, yes I would be upset. However I would not call them on the phone every day and harass them either. I would not threaten them with jail or getting them fired also. I would work within the law, and if necessary take them to court and let the court decide. Then I would never loan them money again. Even though yes we are responsible for our debts and what we sign, these credit card companies are not without fault either. They hide many of the terms in conditions in small print and legalize, which most people do not read. Many of these credit card companies can be very predatory in their lending, they are also taking a chance by giving cards to people with bad credit. They also love to go after students and give them cards when they shouldn't be giving them cards. Yes the consumer is ultimately responsible and should try if at all possible to pay their debts, but the credit card companies are not without fault also. Maybe if they were not so greedy they wouldn't run into so many problems. Also many times credit card companies do not try to collect for six months or contact the person, but they love ringing up those charges, making it hard for people to pay back. Yes those fine print disclosure statements may be legal, but appropriate, not necessarily in the ridiculous charges they make.

Many people here on the forum are also coming here because of pay day loans also. Now these PDL companies shouldn't even being doing business in some states and charge rates that are against the law, so they have just as much blame when people don't pay. And yes people should read the small fine print, but these companies should read the laws of the states they are lending in also.

Over 90% of colletors are nice and have customer service skills? In my experience its more closer to 50/50. If it was over 90% as you said then there would not be forums like this or the need for the government to pass laws to protect the consumer from CA's.

There's a lot more to debts than "pay your bills". Also, I don't there think there are many people that enjoy wrecking their credit which affects their credit score and prevents them from buying a house or car or getting other types of credit. No, people want to pay their debts for the most part and they are not looking to "steal" from these companies.

I've just encountered ASG this afternoon. They claimed they just recieved a collection from a bank in which I haven't had a n account with for over 4 years. I called the original branch were I opened and closed the account and they told me they have no record of my account having any negative balances or anything to warrant having the account sent to collections. It makes me wonder if these creditors even have the right information. When I tried to obtain information from the representative from ASG, they said they couldn't tell me specifically when or why I owed the money, only a total and that a payment arrangment could be made. They wouldn't even tell me a fax number or mailing address for the company without arguement.
They want me to pay them money on some debt I'm totally unaware of from a sorce that says I'm in good standing with them. Without even giving me any info on my own account.
Isn't it the law that they have to give me notification and and a written statement explaining why they're asking for money before I pay them?

[Anthony Lemons]

If one wishes to sway my opinion of collectors, they are mistaken. I am not an unpleasant person, as our Guest suggests, I just do not display pleasantness to bottom feeding collectors and the lies that they barf up as comments here.

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lets try using facts here. First, you have no earthly idea if that is actually what you have. All you see is the info that pops up on your screen. Tell me--is each debt validated? How so? Do you have any idea? The answer is NO, you do not. All you see is some account information--the fact of the matter is that so many times today the info a collector has is false, or they are contacting the wrong person. Until you KNOW FOR CERTAIN that the person on the phone legitimately owes that money to your client, then you dont have a case.

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Sorry, but that is crap right there. If collectors didnt need to demean people to do their jobs, then the fdcpa would not even exist. Laws were created specifically because far too many people in your industry acted and continue to act precisely in this manner. So, DO TELL, why in the world would ANYONE think that a debt collector would demean them?!?!? Even you should be smart enough to answer that question. Why does everyone hate used car salesmen?? Same thing--the reputation is well-demonstrated and precedes you.

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All of which is 100% ASSUMPTION on your part. Last time I knew, thins country guarantees that a person is innocent until proven guilty. The burden of proof rests upon the shoulders of you and your employers. Case in point--I found out last year that a bank in Tennessee claims that I took out a $40K mortgage note with them. One problem--I have never one day resided in that state. This is the deal--the original creditor reported this debt out of the blue to my credit report. I disputed it, and the creditor ADMITTED THEIR ERROR AND REMOVED THE ENTRY FROM MY CREDIT FILE. Now, a third party has gone and bought this exact same "debt". And to this day they still assert that I "owe them money and refuse to pay it back", just like you assume. Like I said, you have the burden of proof upon you.

And until you prove to me that I do legitimately owe you money, you would be a complete moron to think I am gonna pay you one red nickel.

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The Fair Debt Collection Practice Act states otherwise. Gee, its only a federal law, why should you follow it, right?

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And 99% of the time, this is done illegally. Most of the time this is done with at least one violation of federal law taking place. Another case in point--LTD Financial. This CA has called my house up to 8 times a day. Sometimes, they call every two-three minutes. This is so clearly illegal that it isnt even funny. On top of it all, they arent even registered with my state to legally collect debts within LA....so once more, if you all just followed the law none of this reputation would exist.

Also, there you go again with the assumption that everyone youc all really does owe that money. In the last few years I have had multiple items showing up as "legitimate debt" from states I never even lived in, such as utility bills! how the hell would I have an old electric company account from Colorado when I have never even lived there?? But that guy told me the same thing you just said--"he was only trying to get me to pay the money I OWE..."

Better luck next time...

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The only thing I agree with you on--that many consumers are immature and dont use their head when they use their credit. But your problem is that you lump all "debtors" into that category.

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Show me proof that 90% of your industry is within the law. I would LOVE to see this. And dont cite some collection industry internal crap either.

In either case, you should look around this place. You would notice something--no one is bashing companies that are doing a legitimate, legal business here. What we do see, however, is plenty of people like you lumping all "debtors" into the category of "if you just shut up and paid your bills none of this would have happened". Pot, meet kettle....

I am intelligent enough to know that many people do in fact owe money to creditors. I am also intelligent enough to realize that owing that money doesnt make that debtor a low-class person that you and your industry are somehow entitled to treat like crap because of it. And therein lies the problem. If your profession was actually treated by its own as a profession and not an excuse to be a complete prick to people, the laws and the bad reputation you have would not exist. Dont blame the consumer for the problems in your industry, champ--they were self-made.

Let me dumb all of this down real good and simple for ya--

1--VALIDATE THE DAMN DEBT AS REQUIRED BY LAW. You have no idea how many idiots, uh, sorry, I mean "debt collectors", I have heard tell me illegal things like "I just did validate your debt, its all right here on my computer screen"....

2--TREAT OTHERS AS YOU WOULD WANT TO BE TREATED. A little background on me--I am licensed as a bail enforcement agent in three states. In my personal experience working bail enforcement, I have dealt with some of the lowest scumbags there are in my area. IF YOU TREAT PEOPLE LIKE CRAP YOU NATURALLY INVITE A CRAP RESPONSE. These people all knew they were breaking the law, they knew they screwed up. Many of them knew they were scum--does it help or hurt me if I tell them that? I always kept it "nothing personal man, its just my job...." and treat them like PEOPLE, with some friggin dignity. And the next time I would have to go get the same guy, he would remember I was cool to him and not put up a fight usually....think about that for a minute.

None of your "I dont have to be nice" garbage holds water. Sure, you dont have to be. I dont have to be either. But just because you CAN be a jerk, doesnt make it the smart move. On a bounty case, I have the legal right to kick in your door unannounced at two in the morning and drag you out of bed to bring you to jail. Is it the smartest thing?? No. Thats why I never do no-knock entries, because you never know whats waiting on the other side of the door.

just because you CAN do something, doenst mean you SHOULD.

[countrygirl]

Skydivr... great post!!!

[Morningstar]

[quote]The client was nice for SIX MONTHS. I don't have to be. quote]

You know...I was able to average 138% of my budget over 7 months. This while not meeting company standards for number of calls taken (typing while conversing is a skill I lack). I never once yelled at a debtor (yes, at times, I would raise my voice slightly to bring the conversation back a professional level), never threatened a debtor, always treated the person on the other end of the phone with courtesy and respect--regardless of what I thought of them...and just like Skydvr, every once in a while I'd be dealing with a real classy :roll: person.

[cajunbulldog]

I spoke of the law before on this.Please read the first two links in my signature to understand your rights.Send the letter in my third link to them certified return receipt mail to preserve your rights under Federal law.Since they contacted you yesterday,they now have five days to have a mandatory validation notice letter sent to you.If they do not send it,they now owe you $1000 in statutory damages that you could get in a civil suit.It is customary to collect a few violations before proceeding to court so you can disporove any garbage defense they attempt to raise.

[Anthony Lemons]

Great post Skydivr. You are so right. These collectors pretend that they are perfect, untarnished individuals, with the right to treat consumers like dirt, without first proving, legally, that a debt belongs to who they are calling.

All of you are full of sh*t!!!! From the collectors who post here, to the members of this forum. I read each of these comments and chuckle to myself. Anthony Lemons, you are the worst! I've seen several of your posts in which you tell people they have no balls because they have'nt registered. You act as if you are this tough cowboy, it's f'ing hillairious. If you really want to be tough, go to the places that you speak out against in person. You can lead a group of protesters right on the company's front doorstep. But you wont do that will you????? Is it because you don't have any balls??? Oh yeah, since I know you will follow my post with this, I do not work in the collection industry. So I close with this, collectors are telephone tough guys, Anthony Lemons is a typing tough guy who may very well descend a pair of balls of his own and go se all these fols in person. Now that would be admirable. So long, have a wonderful day

[ramj70]

LMAO guest, and you are a hypocrite because you are acting like such a typing tough guy also. Yeah, you are real tough junior. Of course you could go talk directly to Anthony's face and tell him in person tough guy.

[Law Student]

Cajun is right about suing for violations. If you only bring one or two, it pobably won't be heard. It shouldn't take long to get more than that though.

[skydivr7673]

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wow...lookie here....a guy that can talk of nothing but balls.....I wonder whats on your mind?!?

Ok, ball boy, so you come in here thinking youve got a pair. You, the "guest" who cant even come up with a name to post under? Wow, that takes balls--hiding behind teh intarweb. Speaking of balls, your mommy must be so proud huh?

I find it particularly funny that you put all that effort into being the wannabe e-thug of the day, only to whine about someone else thinking they were tough? You wouldnt know tough if it bit you, well, in the balls. I still dont get it though--talking about the law doesnt make someone tough, nor did I see anyone trying to act like they were tough--that is, until you posted. Good call.

Thanks for posting, and enjoy your balls.

Hey Countrygirl, instead of ducking and dodging ASG, why don't you act like a responsible adult and talk to the person who is calling? Typical debtor...do what you want to do then run and hide when it's time to pay up...then the collection agent is the one who is in the wrong! Gotta love that.

Go to hell scumbag debtors!

[Anthony Lemons]

Guest, I have been in the face of many in my life, and the balls, which you so generously speak of, are lacking in your tough talk. Just give me your work information, and I will see what you say when I make a short flight to your job. We'll have a chat about balls, vaginas, or whatever is your fetish that day, tough girl...er...guy. Guest will now give me his work address, so make room everyone.

[Anthony Lemons]

Sidekick of guest? What a superhero name you got. "I am Asskick man"!!!