Comments on: Anyone Feel Sorry For Debt Collectors?

By: Credit Karma Weekly Roundup - Let it Snow!

Credit Karma Weekly Roundup - Let it Snow! — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 11:04:04 +0000

[...] The Wisdom Journal wonders if Anyone Feels Sorry For Debt Collectors? [...]

By: Jan

Jan — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 21:54:41 +0000

“Sell me that I owe the debt”!!!!!! Why should I have to “sell” them that I don’t owe them??? Sorry …but having dealt with a less than honest debt collector that does not set well! They DID not sell me!!! They out right LIED and I caught them in the middle of it. They were lucky that I did not take them to court! Debt collectors will never make my warm and fuzzy list!!

By: Gypsie

Gypsie — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:27:43 +0000

I am pretty sure that debt collectors cannot continue to call/harass you at work if you tell them not to call you there anymore.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:59:27 +0000

Hear hear! I once worked for a collection agency as a collector. I loved it because despite the misconception, collectors are not professional jerks, they are actually there to help and often times have many tools available for loss mitigation to help achieve a win-win situation for both the company and customer.
As far as harassment is concerned, my policy was: during the first 30 days of being delinquent the customers spoke to customer service reps, if they made it to my desk we weren’t in the delightful world of customer service anymore. My job was to get them back on top or begin legal for repossession – not sugar coating – because it’s serious.
I went into every conversation the same, I was very nice to those who were nice – tried to be nice to those who were less delightful – but those who stepped out of line and were downright rude and belligerent… well I wasn’t so nice.
Treat others as you wish to be treated. Whether you like the situation you are in or not, collectors are often your last chance.

By: Joshua @ Accountable Living

Joshua @ Accountable Living — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:28:40 +0000

Wow, there is some serious misconception here about debt collectors.

1) The FDCPA only applies to third-party debt collection agencies and attorneys, not to the originating financial institution or debt originator.

2) NCO is a privately owned corporation and is not a subsidiary of any bank

3) Debt collection is not “soul deadening”. It is in fact a very robust business that provides a needed instrument. How soon we forget that the reason debt collectors exist is because of consumers who largely neglect to pay

4) Debt collectors are doing a job that not a lot of people would like, but due to the number of restrictions that exist, although many cry “harassment”, it is more noise than anything. States have even more stringent rules than the Federal government and this has truly toned down harassment over the last 30 years.

5) Debt collectors help bring money back to a large swath of companies and insitutiions, not just banks. They collect money for hospitals, insurance companies, utility companies, and the list goes on and on. It is BECAUSE they bring money back into the system that costs by those companies can be kept down. Remember, they are in it for a profit ( usually ) or at least need to make sure that they can cover their cost of business. When consumers don’t pay, they have to either collect that money in some way or charge customers more. Which would you prefer?

I could go on, but suffice to say, collectors as a whole are a hard working crowd and deserve more respect than they receive.

By: Chelo Marroquin

Chelo Marroquin — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:51:27 +0000

You are probably right debt collectors will start crossing the line to try to collect a debt (not that they already aren’t). As they are paid bonuses most likely for collecting the most etc. But you would think that with things being so tight for everyone they would try to be nicer to their clients. If I was being hounded by two collection agencies and 1 was decent to me and the other was rude and horrible if I had to chose one to pay I would pay the nice guy. Why pay the ogre when it’s being reported either way.

By: Henry

Henry — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:29:09 +0000

What is the fear in a third party collection notice ? All the bill collector is trying to do is sell you that you owe the debt. If you dont want to pay the debt it is your job to sell the collection agency that you dont owe it. There are plenty of tactics to use to sell your ability to not have to pay. (with out litigation)

By: Bryan

Bryan — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:32:22 +0000

Now that I read the act in further detail it says under the definition of “Debt collector”…

“…The term does not
include—
(A) any officer or employee of a creditor while, in
the name of the creditor, collecting debts for such
creditor;”

Which is interesting because for the banks I have worked for we were always told to act within the restrictions of the FDCPA. I’m going to have to investigate this further.

By: Admin

Admin — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:50:35 +0000

That's a common misconception. The FDCP Act only applies to those who "collect debt on behalf of another." States have their own debt collection acts, but I'm only referring to the Federal act. I ran this by several attorneys prior to printing it. Some courts have found that buyers of debt are covered by it as well since they didn't actually issue the debt. Check out the Act itself or the People and entities covered by the FDCPA section of Wikipedia.

By: Marie Beausoleil

Marie Beausoleil — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:54:09 +0000

There’s an award for you over at my blog – http://ofbooksandwriting.wordpress.com