Debt collecting is often a calling

[Kelvin Mace]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/careers/fin2/013005ccwcCareersFinmain.62621745.html

Collection agencies are seeking professionals who can call and collect past-due loans, credit card charges, utility bills and accounts.

While being a debt collector may sound tedious, it can be a rewarding profession financially and professionally for those with the right skills and competitive drive.

Having no soul helps.

"No one ever says I want to grow up and be a bill collector," said Harry Strausser III, president of ACA International – the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals ( www.collector.com). "People just find out they are good at it."

Recruiters say that jobs are opening up with third-party collection agencies, hospitals and even the Internal Revenue Service.

[skypilot]

1. "People just find out they are good at it."

I'm sure it involves being very unpleasant (to say the least) to people. Something tells me that there are just people out there who would love the oppurtunity to be complete dicks to other people and get paid for it.

[TwilightZone]

4. Actually, it's often the exact opposite type of people who do well.

Collections is all about negotiation, and in my experience, the people who were the best at it were the ones that could get the debtors to "buy in" to paying their bills and accepting a role in solving their own financial issues. The collectors who put debtors on the defensive didn't do very well.

[skypilot]

5. I stand corrected.

When I read the article I recalled a guy who used to live here in Philadelphia whose job it was to evict people from their homes like that guy in "Roger and Me". There was an article about him in "Philadelphia" magazine years back and when I read it I was horrified by what an arrogant, insensitive prick he was. He actually seemed to enjoy the job. He also used to shop at a gourmet food store that I used to work in, so I had face to face dealings with him. I knew he was a prick before I even read the article. But I'll stand corrected on collection agents.

[TwilightZone]

7. I'm sure there are plenty of people like him, too.

And the type of collections being done plays a part. It would take a very different personality to handle home evictions than utility bills, credit cards, etc.

I hated credit card collections (I quickly changed fields), so I can't imagine evicting people for a living.

[DemoTex]

2. Repo Man

[jukes]

3. i believe you must also be

a lying bastard w/ sociopathic characteristics.

[Zorra]

6. What percentage of American households own firearms?

Just asking.

[mimitabby]

8. two sides to this

This kind of work is like detective work, only you normally
aren't dealing with murderers and child molesters, instead,
they are just people who haven't paid their bills. So it does
attract some of the same sort of folks that might want to be detectives... only they don't want to carry a gun.

Many people do not pay bills because they are irresponsible. It's not all about folks who are bankrupted by medical bills because they don't have insurance. Sometimes it's about people who buy fancy cars, and run up outrageous and unnecessary debt...

on the other hand, I've been at the other end of this.
My husband was in an accident a few years ago, and we both have insurance, so we knew all would be well. One bill fell through the cracks, I guess i assumed too much. One day, 6 months after the accident, we got a notice from a collection agency that said things like "we can ruin your credit, we can put a lien on your house, pay or die"
so I called them, expecting in the least, civility. I was stunned.
whoever it was came at me like a gorilla (sorry to impugn a great ape)
He was rude and nasty.. Good grief, I thought, this is a doctor bill!!
I called the dr's office and was able to circumvent the asshole agency by paying them on the spot cash.. I knew my insurance would pay me back. I then wrote letters to the doctor's office letting them know what kind of creeps THEY hired to do their bill collecting.
I doubt if it did any good.

[liberalhistorian]

11. People who've hit a rough patch financially,

through illness or loss of a job, etc., do NOT NOT NOT need to be reminded of how behind they are and that they can't pay their bills. When you can't pay, you can't pay. You can't get blood from a stone, but try telling these fucking collectrolls that. They make you feel as if you're hiding a huge pile of money and are just refusing to give it to them. I mean, they do need their fancy commission they make off of your misery and all, you know.

[mbperrin]

9. How about collectors who try to collect what you don't owe?

Since 1997, been trying to get a bill corrected that someone else with a similar name and completely separate social security number owes. Can't be done, apparently. I've even had pictures of my house mailed to me in an obvious attempt to intimidate me. And since this is Texas, complaints about the tactics to the Atty General's office are just ignored.

So I paid $35 to get the guy who owned the agency's address, and I drove 250 miles to take a picture of HIS house. Still get threatening letters, but to the point.

[Boomer]

12. And collectors who think you just might be someone else

I have a very common last name, which must explain why several times a week I get harassing phone calls asking for people with my last name but a different first name.

The harassment comes in the form of abusive disbelief when I reply that no one by that name lives in the house. Often, the caller won't identity themselves, but given the office sounds in the background I'm pretty sure it's not a personal call from a long-lost friend or relative.

We even had one bill collector call our elderly neighbor and bully him into giving us a message, even though the message was for someone with an entirely different name. That had us tpuzzled until we realized the collector had mistaken our house address for another address one block away. So we were all being harassed in the pursuit of a total stranger.

[liberalhistorian]

13. Those are common tricks of

collectrolls, and they don't care if they're wrong. All they're looking at is the money they'll get when they squeeze every last dime from you.

By law, they must identify themselves. And if you request in writing that they cease contacting you by phone, they MUST comply with that or suffer the consequences with the FTC. And believe me, the FTC does go after collectrolls and their agencies who do not comply with the Fair Debt Collection Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Most of them know this, which is why they'll back down when you assert your rights. Unfortunately, most people don't know their rights under the FDCA and the FCRA, and collectroll agencies count on that.

It's only going to get a helluva lot worse with this new goddamn medieval bankruptcy "reform", believe me. I can see the collectrolls salivating now. That's why it's important for people to know the FDCA and the FCRA. Once you know your rights and assert them with these fuckers, nine times out of ten they'll back down.

They can't do half of the stuff they threaten to do anyway, and they know it. They're just counting on you not knowing it so that they can intimidate you.

[liberalhistorian]

14. Please report those fuckers to the FTC

right away, they are absolutely in flagrant and blatant violation of the Fair Debt Collection Act and the FTC takes such violations very, very seriously, unlike other federal agencies.

One common trick of collectrolls to be aware of is called "backdating", where they date a debt on your credit report as much more recent than it actually is. Debts stay on your report for seven years after the last activity, so collectroll agencies will date the debts and your payments much later than they actually are in order to keep them on your report. This is blatantly illegal, and should definitely be reported whenever it happens. Again, the FTC takes these very seriously.

[liberalhistorian]

10. Do NOT get me started on these fuckers!

Those of you who know me here know my numerous stories and rants about these fucking collectrolls (I call them that because that's exactly what they are). The only reason they have jobs is because so many other people don't, they prey off of, and make money off of, the misfortune and misery of others. How the hell these fuckers can sleep at night is beyond me.

For years, I've collected stories from people about their experiences with these fuckers, and 80% of the time it's been extremely negative. I actually had one collectroll tell me, when I was laid off, broke, and desperately job-hunting, that I must not be doing anything to find a job because I was at home talking to him on the phone!!!!!! If you can fucking believe that.

My parents have worked hard all of their lives and are now retired; they're going through a really rough time financially due to a tremendous increase in their insurance premiums, taken directly out of their checks. They are not irresponsible deadbeats by any means, but you'd never know that from the attitude of the fucking collectrolls harassing them day and night. We have caller ID, thank God, so we almost never answer the phone anymore because it's almost always some fucking collectroll. Many of them call six or seven times a day, often three or more times within the same hour. I've had to endure the same treatment whenever I've been laid off and unemployed, talk about kicking you when you're down.

The medical collectrolls are the absolute worst, they don't care if you have cancer or you're dying, they harass you ceaselessly anyway. My uncle has cancer and my best friend fought cancer for several years and they're having to deal with that, a horribly added stress when they're trying to fight a life-threatening disease. But these fuckers don't care. It should be illegal for private collections to collect medical debts, and it should be illegal for medical debts to be on credit reports, especially if you or a family member have a serious illness.

[ok_cpu]

15. It's like any other profession

There are good and bad collectors. It wasn't my(ducks for cover) first choice as a profession but we're not all underhanded, uncaring, creeps.

:hide:

[Kelvin Mace]

17. I have had experience

With both types. Sadly, the bad outnumber the good in my experience. When my mother died I had a few of them call me up and tell me I was *obligated* to pay her bills.

I laughed and hung up. They called *back*. I then told them I would sue them if they called me again.

End of discussion.

Out of five creditors my mother had, four of them pulled this stunt.

[Horse with no Name]

16. I had a friend--appropriately his name was "Toad"

They had some financial troubles because of an illness and the pack of wolves kept calling his house getting nastier and nastier.
Finally--he said, "Look-I don't have enough money to pay my bills. So every month, I put every bill in a hat and pull out the ones I am going to pay in a fair and democratic manner until I run out of money. I make it equal opportunity chance. Now, if your agency keeps calling me, I won't even put your name in the hat."

This was priceless-I don't know if it worked, but sure was cute.