I found this thread on the Collection Agency's version of creditnet: http://www.insidearm.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=9&threadid=6714&STARTPAGE=3 On that page, one poster candidly discloses the numbers they base their business on: About a third of the way down, on Thursday 08/09/07 9:29 AM, Go Get Them posted an interesting summary of how things are changing in the Accounts Receivables business: It's good to see the playing field leveled. I'm not trying to encourage irresponsible use of credit any more than I'm encouraging irresponsible collection activities (of course to a CA, irresponsible collection activity would simply mean not getting the money).
I agree that it is nice to see the playing field leveled a bit. As a whole, consumers are very undeducated about their rights when it comes to credit. As information is now easier to share and source things are changing to the consumers benefit. The information was probably always out there, it was just very difficult to find and understand. I always find it easier to draw on others experiences and message boards, especially ones solely dedicated to credit issues, are a terrific resource. That is not to say I in any way advocate the misuse or abuse of credit or particpate in any sort of dishonest or shady credit repair... it is nice to know though that we have options when things happen. Even more now that ID theft and technology go hand in hand. Less than stellar credit reports arent always the fault of the debtor. Over the years I have had numerous mistakes on my credit reports due to no fault of my own.
On that Board I am the Dr Tax he refers to, and the sites he calls "Screw-the-Creditor" sites include this one, my own site, and many others. Anyway, the thread over there took an interesting turn when I challenged them to take a more realistic attitude towards PFD's. I doubt they will.
Sadly, I agree with you. The attitude is a bit odd. They play hardball and expect 80-90% of the people to just roll over (and they do). Now that "hardball" is starting to be less productive, Dr Tax/Flyingifr suggested that a reasonable approach like PFD that would benefit everyone concerned. Indeed, but I suppose old habits die hard.
One thing needs to be mentioned here, there is no such thing as "shady" credit repair. If your under the assumption that operating in an "ethical" fashion will help you improve your credit, well, your rather naive. There is one simple way to clean your credit mess up . . . do whatever it takes whether it be shady or not (within the law).
I assume you are speaking to me since I used the term shady credit repair. I was referring to the companies that offer to "repair your credit" for a sum of money when in fact everything they do, you can do with a litte time, research and postage fees. I am not naive. I am honest. It took me years, eight to be precise, to pay off my debt and clean my credit report up. You sound awfully rude and angry. I hope your weekend gets better. Maybe I hit a sore spot? I am not naive, I simply dont feel others need to pay for my mistakes and bad financial choices.
"Level playing field"? What might that be in this case? Where can an average citizen take courses on how to file lawsuits against abusive CAs? Do any community colleges offer these as night classes? Maybe a few useful courses at "The Learning Annex" taught by people like Flyingifr on how to properly dispute things on your credit report? Can you buy books like "Idiot's Guide to Sueing a Collection Agency" or "Layman's Guide to Successfully Defending Yourself in Collection Actions"? We're dealing with a government-sanction "member's only" situation where if you're not a lawyer, you're a disenfranchised outsider not entitled to anything you can't get almost entirely on your own. The internet has been levelling the playing field somewhat by providing a means for folks like Flyingifr to post things that educate the rest of us. But it's still a far cry from what would be possible if non-lawyers were more protected from legal action for being even more proactive and instructive towards others. I very much appreciate forums like this and the people behind them who are wiling to take the time to help inform those of us who are willing to learn and deal with these problems on our own. In my case, most of my issues arose from deciding to settle a bunch of accounts rather than file BK a few years ago. In retrospect, it's looking like life would be much easier today if I'd have filed BK, because many of those "settled" accounts are now being picked up by CAs who are pestering me trying to collect.
Actually, there are some books on how to sue. Check out Nolo Press (www.nolo.com). Also, CIC has a book like that somewhere on their web site. And there is always Debtorboards.
http://www.michigancollectionlawblog.com/ is another link I found for more insight on the do's and dont's for a collection agency.
That's a pretty informative link. I added it to my blogrovr.com account. Blogrovr.com is also pretty neat because you can keep up with an unlimited number of blogs that way.
From the Michigan Collection Law Blog posted above, I found this link: http://www.michigancollectionlawblog.com/2007/04/i_cant_stand_it_anymorei_gotta_1.html In that blog entry, the lawyer describes how he got his client to settle with Amex and another creditor for $5,000 on a $100,000 debt. Apparently by AMEX letting this guy run up such a large tab when it was clear (to anyone looking) that he had no capacity to repay it, they were in part, responsible for part of the debt. I'd like to understand the details of that defense.
I've been expecting this type of suit/defense with the subprime mortgage issues; some borrower will file suit stating a broker/lender "knowingly" overextended the borrower into a loan/house that they truly could not afford...
More interesting tidbits http://www.insidearm.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=9&threadid=6919 Talks about how if you ask for validation from a CA and they don't provide it AND they cease collection (as they should under the FDCPA), that you can then ask them, in writing, if they have, in fact ceased collection activity and they have to respond. I'll have to look for the FTC opinion on that one...
Polite collection agents? This thread http://www.insidearm.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=9&threadid=6958 the collectors are talking about how they might have to be polite to get paid. Hmmm.. what an interesting idea. Even more entertaining, to me, is how some are still resisting the notion of being nice, eg. the original poster who says:
permissible pulls by CAs This thread http://www.insidearm.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=9&threadid=6892 has an interesting discussion on permissible pulls [of credit reports] by collection agencies...
