FDCPA Cases Brought By Consumers Creates New Market Aimed at Collectors

Comment from Jeffrey Deutsch on June 22, 2009 at 11:58AM EST

Hello,

I'm sure this is a great service.

It's certainly going to have an effect on the debt collection world at large. Now that it's gone public (or do you think that even nine out of ten of our readers here are collectors?), debtors will know that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If they sue often enough collectors will leave them alone.

(On the other hand, will collectors have a common policy of simply suing consumers on the list, rather than trying to work things out first?)

Cheers,

Jeff Deutsch

Comment from Double Edge on June 22, 2009 at 1:31PM EST

Now all the consumer needs to do is file two times, and presto! No more collection attempts. I guess to cowboy days are nearing an end in the collection game.

Comment from Lethal on June 22, 2009 at 2:48PM EST

Yeah, not such a good service. I am not scrubbing anyone out of my system for fear of a lawsuit. Especially when we are an angency that maintains the highest degree of ethics with strict adherence to all federal, state and local laws. Also, E & O insurance.

Comment from Anonymous on June 22, 2009 at 2:55PM EST

If the intent of the FDCPA litigants would have been to stop collection efforts against them, there is an easier way than to litigate; just send a cease communication letter. The problem is that many of these cases are only out there using the courts to make money.

Comment from bwilson@wcscredit.co on June 22, 2009 at 7:12PM EST

I think this is a great tool to weed out those that abuse the court sytem. I also think automatically suing any account owned by such person would be a great idea.

Comment from PublicSrvcMsg on June 22, 2009 at 9:59PM EST

Sometimes it is the stupidest of reasons that a case is brought to action, but consider the number of legitimate claims out there. This just gives the agency warning to steer clear of educated consumers and "The Litigants" as a whole. I agree that perhaps legal action should be sought immediately if appropriate against both groups of "debtors". You can't run scared, avoid breaking the law and you have nothing to worry about, find the assets, propose settlement, then litigate through proper course of action. There are payers out there, no need to lose your job, or lose in court over the non-payers. Do the right thing and stay off of DateLine.

Comment from www.creditservicesplus.com on June 22, 2009 at 10:04PM EST

In my opinion, I believe that no matter what debtor you call, you have to walk a fine line, because someone always has to be their first target. However, I care more about my clients than a consumer filing a complaint. As long as you follow all of the FDCPA rules, which most are not unreasonable, then you have nothing to worry about. Creditors can feel free to forward those files to us. We will not turn them away. Having never been sued and have great collection rates, we are an example of what a collection agency should be. Not that any of the others are bad, but it makes you wonder when they feel they need software programs like this one. All of my employees are monitored and know that if at any time they try to violate the FDCPA, they are discharged from their employment as per their signed agreement when hired.

Comment from paybill on June 23, 2009 at 9:39AM EST

We use this service, not sure if it is really helping, we are still getting sued and doing nothing wrong in most instances. Addressing the last comment from creditserviceplus, that might be the craziest post I have read. Do you have human beings that work for you? We do all the things you do but humans are humans and attorney are attorneys. You can do everything right, follow the FDCPA and still get sued and then you have to decide settle vs. fighting it. Fighting it cost more money, its a game. Just following the FDCPA doesn't mean you won't get sued. There are some catch 22 situations out there, we just got sued for the ACA's approved FOTI message, we have been sued for not leaving it also. We got sued for a bankruptcy account, when we worked it exactly like we were suppose to work it. Even if we are innocent, we still pay more to fight it. If you have never been sued, then your time will come soon, that or you must be a small shop. When we were small we never had this issue. More accounts you work, the better your chances.

Comment from JEFF on June 23, 2009 at 10:23AM EST

It's sad to realize that too many debtors are advised not to pay a bill or sue for FDCPA violations these days. I would prefer knowing who has multiple lawsuits in order to avoid being the next. I am not saying I violate the FDCPA, I am saying that companies are more inclined to settle than go to court. How many of these cases are settled out of court? Now that would expose who's truly in it for the money. If you twist my words around right, it may very well sound like an FDCPA violation.

Comment from Scott S. at PRS on June 23, 2009 at 11:27AM EST

Unfortunately suing debt collectors is the new "slip and fall" and even better - you don't have to go somewhere to do it, it's delivered to your home like a pizza. Think about the fact that there is NO LEGAL MESSAGE you can leave on a recorder. None. You can be successfully sued for every single message you leave on tape regardless of whether you use the ACA Foti message or you don't.

I got a suit from an attorney last month that had absolutelyl no basis in fact. It accused us of doing things before we even had the account! I tried to call the "law firm" and a recorder picked up and announced "You have reached Collectionstopper.com". That told me all I needed to know. If you really want to make yourself ill and get to the bottom of what's causing this crazy flood of frivilous litigation, go to that guy's website - I caution you, you may become physically ill reading his garbage - I know I did. "Regardless of whether or not you owe the bill I can make the collector pay you...and the best part is you don't have to pay me, the collector will!" (paraphrased from different parts of the page).

When I first learned of services like these that list the frequent abusers of the system I was against getting it, but I have to admit its starting to sound like a worthwhile investment. Even if you do NOTHING wrong, defending yourself when one of these crooks decides to file as class action(even a simple Foti case can be filed as class action) can break you. Most E&O deductibles for class action are about 5x your deductible for an individual case.

Comment from ceo@cpinstituteonline.org on June 23, 2009 at 12:46PM EST

Interesting service. It is already on Twitter. We advocate responsible collection; and certainly not abuse.

Comment from Beli on June 23, 2009 at 12:54PM EST

You guys DO realize that MOST lawyers won't file suit unless there are multipul violations? Why waste their time with just 1 or two?

I'm neither a collection agency nor lawyer, but I have talked to several Consumer law attorneys, and those that I have presented a possible case told me that they won't accept it due to not having enough violations, and not worth their time. The ones I've talked to won't take a case unless there's a good chance that they'll win.

Comment from ceo@cpinstituteonline.org on June 23, 2009 at 1:49PM EST

We have had a flood of business based on stopping abusive contact and obtaining validation. We advocate seeking attorney assistance when needed for the correct reasons and not as a means to generate an income stream.

Comment from Anonymous on June 23, 2009 at 9:47PM EST

In order for a consumer to win a lawsuit, violations must have been committed or the judge would not have found in their favor. This is just a way for debt collectors to avoid being sued for their violations by someone who knows their rights, and continue to harass those who don't.

Comment from www.creditservicesplus.com on June 23, 2009 at 2:19AM EST

I agree with cpinstituteonline and Beli. Most firms will not waste their time unless there is evidence and enough violations to make it worth their interest. I am not saying we have not had complaints, because we have. However, we were able to beat them prior to an attorney filing in court. We can provide any support needed if we have any claims against us. Most of the time, we do not leave messages, so we do not have to worry about that. That’s the only FDCPA concern I have. That would be one of the less intelligent laws they have. Otherwise, I am an advocate of consumer protection and welcome it. No one deserves to be treated the way some of these collectors do. That’s what made our industry a target. It wasn't the majority, it was the minority.

Even with the above said, I am also not into allowing the consumer to be the victim either. They still need to take responsibility for their actions.

The courts have allowed this to become such an epidemic by allowing these cases to proceed and giving such large awards for small issues and in the end, the debtor wins because they were a "victim". We should be fighting the courts, not the debtors. Once we fight the courts and win for unjust rulings. Then we can start to scare the attorney and debtors away from this "slip and fall" easy money.

Comment from Anonymous on June 26, 2009 at 4:34PM EST

i would suggest enacting a law requiring pro per attorneys to post a bond in cases where they allege abuses in more than x number of cases. We have fought many cases and obey the law. Regardless of obeying the laws governing our industry these guys go for low hanging fruit. do you fight them all off at 10-20k per case or do you buy them off at 3-5k per case? if you buy them off they come back. if you fight them and win, who is going to pay your attorneys fees? There are absolutley no repercussions for the debtor or the attorney who is generally assetless anyhow.

This is a loathsome part of the its all about me era we are in.

Bud Hibbs has been pushing this kind of victimhood for debtors for years. now finding themselves unemployed many armchair attorneys are even trying small claims actions for "violations" of the fdcpa for not responding to their "debt collection questionairres". When does the scamming end?

Comment from Dax99 on June 26, 2009 at 4:55PM EST

I agree that that the Courts have allowed such suits to become epidemic. Still, it costs an arm and leg to defend them but we find it worth it to keep professional FDCPA attorneys from staying in business.

Comment from Illlinois on July 16, 2009 at 3:15PM EST

Not to belabor a point, but anyone who tries to collect a debt either without validation of the debt or knowing that no validation exists, is certainly a candidate for damages by both consumer's attorneys and regulatory bodies.

If all you have is a spreadsheet with a name and phone number, you don't have enough.