U.S. debt collectors seek cellphone, e-mail access

[UpInArms]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The debt collection industry urged the U.S. government on Wednesday to lift a decades old ban against using e-mail accounts or cellphone numbers to contact consumers who have fallen behind in their payments.

As more Americans drop home telephone land lines and rely on cellphones, debt collectors are finding it harder to reach delinquent account holders and the industry potentially faces higher losses, industry executives said at a forum sponsored by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

"If we can't contact somebody, that's a big problem," said Robert DiGennaro, chief executive officer of Austin, Texas- based debt collection company Collins Financial Services Inc.

Debt collection firms are third parties that have bought a variety of unpaid debt and bills such as student loans and credit card and medical bills.

Collectors are allowed to call consumers at work and home between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., but are prohibited by law from contacting them on their cell phones or by e-mail.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1026217220071010?sp=true

[Lone_Star_Dem]

1. Ratcheting up a persons cellphone bill by using up their minutes

Not a good idea if a person is already tight for money I would think.

[Scout1071]

4. They don't care. They are vicious.

And they harrass the hell out of people.

[Spangle]

2. Sounds like they can't pay you

Or they would be talking to you....

There is a reason that cell phones are not allowed. It cost extra money. Those guys would be calling every 5 minutes, just to punish by increasing the phone bills. It would be a nightmare. People would be dropping their phone numbers, getting other ones, etc.

[hobbit709]

3. Spam filters and caller ID

[terisan]

5. I met a debt collector who told me training included "getting the baby's milk money."

or "If they can feed the baby they can pay you."

[NutmegYankee]

6. I have them call my phone looking for another person

I have had this number for over 2 years and these assholes keep calling looking for some Jose Melendez guy. They all act like assholes treating me like I'm lying or protecting him and even though I'm on the Do Not Call list, they claim, well, we have business with Mr. Melendez. I've just resorted to cussing them out and making it as unpleasant as possible for them.

They just refuse to stop. Fuckers.

[dipsydoodle]

8. I'm told that whistles are good

for damaging the eardrums of nuicance callers.

[LiberalFighter]

13. I've done that a few times

They are trying to sell me something and I'm on the DNC list.

[qanda]

9. In the last couple of months we have had three different bill collectors

Calling for three different members of my husband's family. We barely even talk to them and I thought it was illegal to talk to another party about someone elses private affairs. I recently had to sign a release for my husband to discuss a bill of mine.

Also, you should get the address of the people calling you and send them a letter telling them to cut it out. I believe there is a law which prohibits them from calling after they've been notified by mail.

[demgurl]

11. Nutmeg.....

if you REALLY want to make it as unpleasant as possible, try bringing up SOL to them. If you have been getting these calls for two years then it sounds like they have been after this guy for a while and all states have a SOL (Statute of Limitations) for credit card debt. If you really want to get them ticked off just tell them over and over "statute of limitations". These folks still try to get their money long after the SOL has run out and they still try to use strong arm tactics since most people do not realize the time they can collect does run out.

I had one person call and try to collect my ex-husband's debt. They would not believe he did not live there any more and so I finally gave in and said I was his wife so that they were allowed to talk to me. I said I believe if they checked they would see that the debt was well beyond the SOL and they agreed but said he had a moral obligation. I said I would not argue morals with him but I said they could not legally collect the money in court because of SOL. Everything they said after that I responded only by saying "statute of limitations". He finally hung up on me! The calls dropped off to about once a week after that and then they stopped. I guess there is no use beating a dead horse and I was not about to pay my ex's bills!!!

Good luck with those calls.

[LiberalFighter]

14. That's another technique to use... keep them on the line as long as possible

[Vidar]

23. You just made my whole year! Going to have a talk with a lawyer friend of mine.

[1monster]

18. I got a new number and for two months kept getting automated recorded phone

calls on my cell phone. Sometimes a real person called. The first few times they called, I explained that I had just gotten the number and I had no idea who the guy was they were looking for and to please stop calling.

When that failed to stop both the automated recorded calls and the real person calls, I told the last one that I was keeping a record of everytime they called, on paper and also on my phone bank of past calls.

I told the man who called that last time that if anyone from his company called my number again, I was first going to the State Attorney's Office and filing a criminal complaint for harassment and then finding a attorney to sue the shirts off their backs.

I never got another call from that collection agency looking for that guy again.

Try it. It might work. There are laws regulating what they can and cannot do.

[NutmegYankee]

20. Alas, I didn't order caller ID.

I just got the land line for family calls, and its a cheap $20 per month service. At the time, my cell phone didn't work as I lived out in the woods. (New cell tower fixed that up) I never ordered the caller ID to nail these bastards because that was another $10 a month, and I figured I wouldn't need it. I've considered it lately, but why should I have to spend money to get these guys to stop calling?

Well, go figure. They hang up rather than give their company name or number. The companies don't want to give out their info, and frankly, I can kind of understand it: One of these days some debt racked consumer is going to march into their office with large caliber guns and crap loads of ammo with nothing to lose. And when it happens, I'll be able to say "I saw that one coming". Not that I would shed a tear for them.

Only one company out of three stopped, http://www.northlandgroup.com/. And that one took a long while to give up. (and it took hell to pry their name out) Real scummy assholes at that company.

[1monster]

21. THEY don't know that you don't have Caller ID. Threats are their stock in trade.

Turn it around on them.

[Jazzgirl]

22. I have the same issue.

I have had this number over 5 years and they keep calling for the person who had my phone before I got it. I quit answering their calls. I got one b**ch one time that asked if I knew where "Dwight" lived. I told her "don't call me anymore. I have no idea who this man is". She had the nerve to tell me I was getting snippy with her. I said "b**ch, don't call me anymore". They didn't call for 2 months and it started again. That was 3 years ago but I still get calls for him.

[terisan]

7. To Debt Collector Lobbyists Congress must say: You bought bad paper, get over it.

[DeSwiss]

10. Oh, Boo-F*ucking-Hoo

Bunch of goddamn cry babies. First the banks get Congress to pass that horrendous bankruptcy bill so people almost have to be dead to file. And now the other side of the equation in the slop-bucket patrol who clean-up after the banks provide credit cards to people who haven't even applied for them, now wants Congress to remove all the other barriers one has to try and maintain their sanity while their financial world crumbles.

Hey you assh*oles and freaks, if you're having a hard time doing your job of squeezing the nickles and dimes from us walking corpses - TOUGH!!! And welcome to the damned club!!!! If its getting too hard to do your job, then find another one. Like giving enemas to Republicans who're full of shit anyway.

Same thing.

K&R!!!

[toadzilla]

12. I've had credit card companies call my cell phone numberous times.

when my payment has been late, i dont know how they got the number.

[HughMoran]

15. I only told the debt collector not to call me or I would snap his spine

Don't make me have to do it by giving them my email/cell number. TG for call blocking and spam filters though.

[MiddleRiverRefugee]

16. Give them an "opt-out" of their own...

"Please be advised that this call is being monitored by several other individuals, all of whom will be trying to imagine what you look like in your underwear. Therefore you may hear loud laughter during the course of this call. If you wish to hang up now, you are more than welcome to do so."

[1monster]

17. Most third party debt collectors are scum. Some are decent, but very few are.

I've had collectors that buy debts from the local hospital threaten me, scream at me, call me names, make unauthorized withdrawals directly from my checking account without letting me know (I found out when my bank statement came in), and otherwise act very badly even as I was trying to pay off the outrageously high hospital bills.

(Debt collection agencies buy the debts they collect on for pennies on the dollar.)

I pay for my cell phone and e-mail accounts. I have the right to decide who gets to use those numbers.

I'm on the National Do Not Call list and I don't give out my cell phone number to any but family and very close friends for a reason: I cannot accept phone calls at work except for emergencies. Debt collectors are not emergencies.

[bridgit]

19. Ha! There's an extra FISA shoe I've been waiting to drop, how much you care to bet...

that little ole "Austin, Texas- based debt collection company" CEO is a bush donor ;)