Jon Hann Talks Talks About Debt Collector Harassment

[Joanne98]

Run time: 01:12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33IlP51UQ2E   Posted on YouTube: June 05, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: June 06, 2009 By DU Member: Joanne98 Views on DU: 827

 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il0_tR1q6GQ&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKfEkeC2zu0&feature=related

[Joanne98]

1. Here's the story.......

Since last November, the Tompkins County Public Library in Ithaca, N.Y. has received a "cease and desist" order from an attorney general or a lawyer in some faraway state every few days. All the letters said basically same thing: Stop your harassment.

"It just became overwhelming," library director Janet Steiner told the Huffington Post. "I have no idea why they chose us."

Apparently a debt collector had been giving the library's address to people from whom it was aggressively trying to recover debt, and those people were handing the address over to their lawyers and local prosecutors.

Call legal threats to your local library a peculiar byproduct of the nationwide economic crisis and a burgeoning debt collection industry. In 2005, debt collectors recovered $51.4 billion nationwide. Two years later, that figure reached $57.9 billion, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers for ACA International, a trade group for the debt industry.

"The story in the industry is that there's more and more debt available. The problem is, it's harder and harder to collect," said ACA spokesman John Nemo in an interview with the Huffington Post.

As collectors work harder and harder to recover debt from strapped consumers, some get creative, like Sunrise Credit Services, a company that trains employees how best to persuade people -- within the limits of the law -- to pay their debts to their clients.

But not all collectors are members of a reputable trade group: Some are just bullies. Debt collectors that break the law make a brisk business for lawyers who sue them.

"We're busier than we've ever been," said Brian Parker, a Michigan attorney with a practice suing debt collectors. Parker told the Huffington Post that since he started his practice in 2005, he's added about 50 more cases every year. This year, he said, "is going to be a banner year."

Story continues below
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/05/debt-collector-harassment_n_211098.html

[pipi_k]

2. People being harassed by debt collectors...

especially the kind known as "Zombie" or "Sewer" debt collectors, should do a bit of research that could save them a lot of aggravation.

In 2005 I started getting phone calls and letters from a company that had bought a nearly 20 year old debt from a credit card company and added all sorts of ridiculous penalties and "fees" to get a total that was like TWICE what I had originally owed the credit card company (which did end up writing off the bad debt years ago).

Basically, these Zombie debt collectors buy old debt for pennies on the dollar and then go after people to get payment on debts that weren't even owed to them to begin with!!!!!.

They tend to go after people who have repaired their credit, hoping to be able to scare these people into paying, especially if they think their present credit rating will be negatively affected. If it's past the Statute of Limitations in the state in which the debt was incurred, there's not much they can do besides threaten to sue, but there are actions people can take to get these scumbuckets off their backs.

Anyway, I wrote to the Attorneys General of two states and they succeeded in getting these people to back off. Like I said, that was 2005....and I haven't been bothered since.



PS...if you're not sure whether or not a debt is yours, or even within the Statute of Limitations, NEVER acknowledge it, and NEVER agree to make payments...not without first finding out what your rights and responsibilities are.

[katmondoo]

4. I was being harrassed for some elses debt

This was the second time this happened. I was so fed up two days ago I went beserk, I answered the phone screaming epitaphs,used every vile word I could think of, I ranted and raved on and on.
Someone was trying to answer me but I just let loose with more. I did this twice. I could have not picked up the phone but they were so persistant calling at all hours every day of the week that I had to find out who it was. They were looking for some guy that I never heard of. I was nice at first but then the calls never ended. Next time I scream. No more trying to explain.

[cindyfaulkner]

3. simple answer do

not answer the phone. If you do no have it to pay them why put yourself through this harassment?

[suzanner]

5. because they call 5 times a day and people get tired of checking caller id...

I've been hounded with calls from 'debt collectors' on occasion also for some other person- not even the same first name, gender, or city. When I've had enough and feel up to a fight, I will pick up or call the number they give. Then I let them know that I've given their number to the state attorney general, that 'phishing' random people who could not possibly be their target person is harassment, etc. It is just too annoying.