Pity the poor debt collector?

Consumers took on millions of dollars of credit card, medical, and other debt in the last five or six years, creating lots of work for debt collectors. But debt collectors say they are hurting along with everyone else in this recession, because fewer consumers are able to pay off those debts.

Apparently, more consumers are just "refusing" to pay their bills. Minneapolis debt collection lawyer William Hicks from Messerli & Kramer estimates a 25-40% drop in recoveries for some portfolios over the last sixteen months. According to University of St. Thomas professor David Vang, and finding out in the process that most debt collectors are really bluffing: "They really aren’t going to pursue their borrowers very hard."

Vang apparently does not consider harassment to be "very hard" pursuit by debt collectors. If debt collectors are recovering less, they seem to be trying harder than ever, if complaints to the Federal Trade Commission (PDF link) and the Better Business Bureau are any indication. Perhaps unsurprisingly, complaints about debt collectors are on the rise.

Collection revenues down; harassment up. Just a sign of the times.

Collectors hurt by recession as consumers walk away from unpaid bills | Finance & Commerce (via Caveat Emptor)

(photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Comments

[David]

I hav eno pitty on the debt collectors! I read horror stories all the time from people on www.complaintcentre.com . The sneaky ways they try and trick you is outrageous!

[Creditcarddebteliminationnow]

Ahead of investing any more of your time and effort in credit card debt elimination, you should consider if debt settlement is the right option for you. The first question you have to ask is "Do you have a legitimate financial hardship?"

[jennifer white]

its always best to work with a professional and reliable company. The benefits of working with an efficient debt company is that they work for you and not against you. They try to find out what would work best for you analyzing your situation. Http://www.bestdebtreliefcompany.org really works, check it out!

[Scott]

It's hard to beleive people are just saying 'No' to bills. They must be paid and i think that is just iresponsible.

[Angelica]

I beleive that people no longer trust third party agencies. A true statistic would be looking at the amount of debt paid direct to the original creditor.

You have too many people abusing the system, the recent uproar surrounding the arrest of the Buffalo collector committing acts of fraud against consumers.

Now, a client contacted me to review a business opportunity. It appeared to be an on-line home business where my client would be calling people regarding broken cell phone contracts to collect money. My client would be paid direct by the debtor and be expected to forward a portion to the parent company.

If this is going on, how many independent collectors are not properly trained, not properly licensed and bonded. If you have the money to pay, you can get personal information on people, run credit reports and no one bats an eyelash.

It is a fiven the FTC has no backbone with less reputable agencies and I am not sure why the reputable agencies are not joining forces to stop this abuse. I know in my business, if competitors were violating consumer laws I wouldn't want my reputation tarnished because of those few bad apples.

It's no secret that less reputable collectors have participated in the fraudulent use of court documents for the sole purpose of phishing for personal information, often on an obsolete or invalid debt.

The entire system is broken and it started at the top. The debt collectors and this new breed of collection scams just exaserbates people's fears. People I have interviewed admit they would pay what they can, but often the creditors and their agents won't accept what people can afford. Other people are just so disgusted and tired of the abusive practices and lack of assistance with the FTC they figure if they ignore the debt until the statute of limitations is up, it's less costly and less stressful in the long run.

[Get Rid of Debt]

Another way to met agencies to stop harassing you is to have a professioanl debt negotiation company work for you. They know how to get collectors off your back AND they could negotiate with your lenders to reduce your debt, too.

[Fair Debt Collection]

There is a fine line between collecting and harassment. If you are being harrassed, you can legally do something about it. It's called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and it has teeth.

[Brad]

If regards to Bank of America saying they have reduced any charges on any of their lending products like credit cards is dishonest in the least. The practice in 08 was for Bank of America to increase credit card rates and fees for no apparent reason to maximize profits.(I was a victim). The Debt Collection companies have become more vicious if that's possbile. In N.C. to put the "who cares if you can't pay" icing on the cake, home and auto insurance companies have been given the go ahead to increase rates. Locally the power company has decided that it's a good time to raise rates due to "higher power costs". And, so on it goes sticking and twisting the kife into the citizen back.

I am waiting for my government bailout check to arrive any day-believe that?

[Grant]

These are quite possibly the nastiest people you can deal with.

[Accountability.]

God forbid people should pay their bills.