If you are being hounded by a debt collector over an old debt and you live in California, you need to pay attention to the Fair Debt Buying Practices Act. Under that new California law the buyer of old debts who is now attempting to collect on the debt has certain hurdles to jump over before you have to pay. ... Read More »
by Paul Kiel, ProPublica, and Chris Arnold, NPR, Jan. 22, 2015, 5 a.m. This story was co-published with NPR. Sen. Charles Grassley said nonprofit hospitals could be breaking the law when they sue poor patients over unpaid bills and issued a stern warning to one Missouri hospital that he hopes reverberates nationwide. Citing a ProPublica and NPR report, Grassley, R-Iowa, ... Read More »
The Federal Trade Commission has issued a complaint against a Texas-based debt collection operation and its current and former principals for illegally threatening consumers with false claims that unless they pay a debt, they will face legal action or wage garnishment. The complaint was filed in federal court on the agency’s behalf by the Department of Justice. “When it comes ... Read More »
Having been a GetOutOfDebt.org site reader and contributor for many years, I am used to seeing posts about what the New Year will bring to debt relief services. Below, I offer my own brief version of what may come in 2015, but with a focus on debt collectors. Changes that we should see to rules governing debt collectors behavior, next ... Read More »
Lately I seem to be getting a bunch of reader questions about debt collectors going after old debts. See this and this. Well the Federal Trade Commission has just announced they have halted the abusive debt collection practices of an operation that used fictitious names and threatened consumers into paying debts they may not have owed. I don’t even need ... Read More »
While this appears to be a press release sent out by Take Charge America it still deserves a pat on the back for the nonprofit credit counseling group taking action to defend against bad behavior by debt collectors. While it is not clear they took specific action against a specific debt collector, at least they are speaking up about consumer ... Read More »
There is no shortage of reasons to be upset at debt collectors. Some are just assholes. But the problem is not all are. Some debt collectors actually want to help people to find ways to repay their debt. They want to play by the rules and follow the regulations. The bad debt collectors just give the entire industry a bad ... Read More »
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a lawsuit in a federal district court against a Georgia-based firm, Frederick J. Hanna & Associates, and its three principal partners for operating a debt collection lawsuit mill that uses illegal tactics to intimidate consumers into paying debts they may not owe. The Bureau alleges that the Hanna firm churns out hundreds ... Read More »
If you had an open Blockbuster video account in the last few years you need to go to your local Blockbuster store right away before they close for good and ask for a printout of your account showing no money owed. In the last year or two Hollywood Video closed and tens of thousands of consumers who rented at those ... Read More »
A big hat tip to the folks at Collections & Credit Risk for posting a breakdown of the CFPB October data on debt collection complaints. According to the October data the debt collection complaints fell out like this: 485 (40.9%) continued attempts to collect debt not owed 244 (20.6%) communication tactics 233 (19.6%) disclosure verification of debt 82 (6.9%) false ... Read More »
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has put out a new document with an extensive amount of information that paints the debt collection industry in a new light. One fact I found exceedingly interesting is the percentages of debts the debt collection industry handles, “medical and other health-related debts (36%), credit card debts (20%), telecom debts (13%), and student loan ... Read More »
When consumers are first approached by debt collectors, the consumers have limited options: avoid the letters and calls; try to negotiate a settlement or payment plan; or go on the offensive and attack the collections agencies. Each has its strengths and weaknesses depending on the type of debt, who the creditor is, who the collections agency is and the financial ... Read More »
On August 14, 2013, the CFPB, jointly with the FTC, filed an amicus brief in Delgado v. Capital Management Services, LP, et al., a case on appeal to the Seventh Circuit. The brief urges the Seventh Circuit to affirm the district court’s refusal to dismiss a class action complaint alleging that a debt collector’s letter offering a settlement of the ... Read More »
A tipster (send in your tips here) let me know about a website for Vanguard Consumer Solutions called FDCPA Help at fdcpahelp.com (ownership hidden). For those not familiar with Hyslip he was part of the Legal Helpers Debt Resolution debt settlement company that was the focus of a number of complaints. Apparently Hyslip is now trying to help consumers beat ... Read More »
Man I get so sick of asshole debt collectors who give professional debt collectors a bad name. Here we go again with another crop of Southern California fakers scaring consumers to extract money. But you want to know the truth about why scammers operate like these jerks, because it scares money out of people. It works. I just wish there ... Read More »
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