Unlawful Debt Collection Calls to Workplace Nearly Double

Comment from Scott S. on March 23, 2009 at 10:46AM EST

Isn't it amazing how when assigning blame for the debtor's situation, it always comes back to the debt collector? "The last thing consumers need is to be harassed at work". How absolutely riddiculous is this statement? In 24 years of being in the debt collection industry I have never once seen a case of a debt collector deciding to arbitrarily call someone at work and start harassing them. It's mind boggling to me that articles like this seem to conveniently forget that the entire process is set into motion by the debtor irresponsibly pulling out the piece of plastic and putting themselves into a situation where collection calls are warranted. We learn at a very early age that there are consequeces to our actions - i.e. put your hand on a hot stove, you burn your hand. When a cop pulls over a driver for speeding, there is no foundation out there holding the cop out to be the one in the wrong, we recognize it was the driver who made a bad decision and has to live with the consequences of their decision. Why is debt collection so much different? Why are we in this industry always painted as the bad guy and the debtor the helpless victim when we had absolutely nothing to do with their bad decisions that put them in the position they're in? I never have and never will understand the sense of entitlement that seems to come with having credit cards - the idea that "I can have whatever I want regardless of my ability to afford it, and if the bank who lends me the money asks for it back, I'll sue them or their representatives".

Comment from Fed up on March 23, 2009 at 1:19PM EST

The imbalance in the perception of our industry occurs because privacy laws prevent the collector from sharing the harrasment they experience from the debtor. Disclosing the vile language, deceptive tactics, threats of violence and fradulent activity that we experience on a daily basis is a violation of the law. FDCPA abuse is rampant in our industry because there are no penalties for being a lying debtor, only rewards. The FTC and the BBB don't warn against filing false complaints they simply encourage them and make it easy to do so. Predatory attorneys are providing their clients with a list of prohibited practices prior to asking them what occurred. The Debtor then says yah they did this and yah they did that, how much money can you get me. Collectors are being sued for obscure technical violations and are starting wonder why they should even follow the laws if following the laws doesnt prevent complaints and lawsuits. Perhaps we need a new law called the Fair Debt Non-Payment Practices Act. Something simple that makes it a violation of law to make false and misleading statements to or about a debt collector. Profane language and threats of violence should be illegal on both sides.

Comment from Anonymous on March 23, 2009 at 4:50PM EST

First, remember there's a difference between the number of complaints and the number of valid complaints. Second, I wonder how many workplace phone calls were received on the consumer's cell phone because that's the number they listed on the original agreement?

Comment from Jeffrey Deutsch on March 27, 2009 at 3:40PM EST

Hello,

Scott S. has a good point. Those debtors who carelessly borrowed money they didn't have good reason to know they could repay certainly should earn less sympathy (though they have the same rights under the law).

On the other hand, many debtors fell behind due to unforeseen circumstances - most commonly illness/accident, job loss and/or death or divorce of spouse. (And any of these can help cause one or both of the others.)

Even credit card debt, for example, can often be due to medical reasons: for example, un- or underinsured people may have to put hospital bills on a credit card. Special equipment, food or other supplies needed during recovery may have to be charged. And so on.

I might add that just because you haven't seen collectors abuse debtors at work doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

Fed up, you are certainly right in that debtors abuse collectors on a regular basis. I used to collect debts myself, and I know I was lied to, cursed and threatened on a regular basis.

Anonymous, you have a very good point: just as in any other field, complaints about abusive debt collection practices are not necessarily true. We can't just look at an individual complaint and say "The collector did it" without hearing both sides of the story and otherwise affording due process.

That having been said, when the total number of complaints almost doubles over a single year, unless we think that the aggregate propensity to give false complaints has skyrocketed, it's a safe bet that the total number of actual abuses has also gone up substantially, if not by 100%.

Also, good point about cell phones. If people get calls on their own cell phones, when they gave the cell numbers on their credit applications, until and unless they tell the collectors not to call them on those numbers (ever, or at given times or occasions) they have no leg to stand on even if they're at work when they get the calls.

Cheers,

Jeff Deutsch

Comment from Anonymous on March 30, 2009 at 10:38AM EST

If people get calls on their own cell phones, when they gave the cell numbers on their credit applications, until and unless they tell the collectors not to call them on those numbers (ever, or at given times or occasions) they have no leg to stand on even if they're at work when they get the calls. (Jeff Deutsch) But they will file a complaint anyway.