All About The FDCPA

On June 5, 2010, In business, By Jonathan Summers

In order to do battle with the problems associated with harassing debt collectors and debt collection companies, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (also known as the FDCPA) was designed. The laws and regulations legislated by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act not only shield consumers, but they also aid debt collection agencies as well by encouraging them to operate in a serious and professional manner when engaging in communication with supposed debtors.

In most affairs lenders are within their rights to search for payment. This includes situations where the borrower is careless in their responsibilities and then in the end default on their financial obligations, and or if the borrower simply needs additional time due to rough financial circumstances and strain. These above situations represent instances in which the lender is not earning his due payments from the borrower when they began with a reasonable expectation of being paid back in an adequate time frame. No matter the reason in these cases, the lender in question is legally within their rights to seek payment that they are due.

In these situations, a lot of times lenders have no other option but to become involved with a collection agency. The goal of collection agencies is to recover and collect all of the monies that are overdue to their clients (the lenders). Due to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, collection companies can not act neglectfully and with inadvertence for the consequences of their actions when trying to recover monies for their clients.There are several conditions that come along with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act as enacted in 1978. These conditions both protect debtors and enable collection companies to strongly pursue valid debts.

Even if a debtor advises a collections representative to terminate all further contact with him there are other means by which a debt collection representative may aim for the valid debt. For example, under the FDCPA, while the collection rep must agree with the debtors request to cease any further contact with them, they are also perfectly within their rights to make the debtor aware that they intend to pursue the debt via legal channels through an attorney.

If the collection agency accountable for recovering the delinquent account cannot communicate with or cannot reach the debtor, then they are legally allowed to contact third parties related to the debtor. However, under the FDCPA there are some boundaries to contacting third parties. First and foremost, the collection rep cannot harass the third party or be non-courteous. Also importantly, the collection rep cannot violate the right of privacy of the debtor by disclosing the nature of the call to this third party.

Among guidelines for collection agencies to adhere to, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act also has a penalization system in place for those collection companies that do not adhere with the aforementioned stipulations. These penalties against collection agencies found to be in violation of the FDCPA include: fines; license revocation; and even legal actions.

At first glance it appears as though the guidelines of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act are strongly skewed toward the debtor. However, these rules also protect the debt collection agency by helping them steer to wards fair practices and policies in a courteous and professional manner. Without the FDCPA, the unprofessional behaviors of some select few collection agencies would go unchecked and thus would undermine the entire reputation of the business of debt collection.

Rapid Recovery Solution is a medical collection agency.

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Debt Collection Practices

On April 15, 2010, In business, By Mallory Megan

If you owe money to a creditor debt collection agencies can report your debt to credit bureaus, file suits against you, and should be taken very seriously. The best way to protect yourself and your finances is a methodical approach. First, know why you are being contacted. Know what the debt is from and exactly how much it costs.

Inquire about the name of the person calling, the agency, the creditor, and the agency’s address and fax number. You have every right to tell a collector over the phone that you want all future contact to be in a written form. Follow up all requests with a written request.

Keep in mind if you tell the collector not to contact you at all it the agency is entitled to contact you once more to inform you how it plans to proceed. Another request that can be made is that you are the only person that can be contacted. It might be a good idea to keep a file including dates and details of phone conversations and when you mail out or receive letters.

If you do send any written correspondence to the collections company do this by Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested. This guarantees that the letter reached the collector, giving you a signed receipt as proof. If you work out a re-payment plan over the phone, ask for the terms of the plan in writing. Any promise to remove or adjust credit history should also definitely be documented.

Be certain that you pay the right party; payments should be made to the collections agency, not the creditor, unless you have been otherwise instructed to do so. Carefully look over the amount you are being asked to pay. Get an assessment of any interest, fees or charges that have been added.

If you feel that your collector is being abusive, be certain to complain to the agency and keep this complaint on file. Finally, never ignore a collector even if you feel that the debt isn’t yours; they will continue to contact you and it may mean more trouble and time in the long run.

Mallory Megan is employed by a debt collection company. She also composes stories on business and finance, consumer spending and collection agencies.

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The Debt Collection Industry Today

On March 9, 2010, In Uncategorized, By Mallory Megan

The collections industry has grown quite large in the past couple of years. The reason for this is that collections and recoveries are typically outsourced business functions. It would be unthinkable for a creditor to try to handle retrieving debt from all of their accounts, so the creditors call upon the collections agencies.

But there seems to be a beginning of an enormous change taking place with the collections industry. The industry has grown to massive proportionas through the recession and seems giant. Rather than hire out more service providers, creditors are begining to lower the number of debt collection companies that they will work with, which requires the companies they originally hired to take on more accounts.The effects of this could change the way that the collections industry operates in a large way.

As the worst workers are removed from these collection networks, certain debt collection agencies are going to lose their most important clients. Creditors will also have less reason to work with companies that have a reputation for being inappropriate. The financial effects of this will cause these companies to suffer, and company value will also fall with some owners forced to sell their companies in distress.

As this happens, the most efficient performers will see a lot more potential job growth, less competition, greater leverage on contract terms, better revenues, and improved profitability.

Within the debt buying market, the same type of transference is also taking place. Instead of calling on more debt buyers, some creditors are lowering the number of companies they approach for selling the accounts.

Smaller, less efficient debt buyers will begin to a smaller chance to buy from these issuers. Again, concentration within the primary debt sales market will increase. Recovery executives within credit businesses will be making the same kind of choice more and more, picking concentration within their vendor networks over diversification.

Mallory McGuinness works for a collections agency that works with a debt collection lawyer. She also composes stories on business, finance, the credit industry and collections agencies.

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Debt Collection And Identity Theft

On March 5, 2010, In Uncategorized, By Mallory McGuinness-Hickey

A letter from a debt collection agency about a debt you know nothing about may be the first indicator that you could be the victim of identity theft. This crime touches the lives of as many as ten million people a year.

If a collections agent calls you about an an unfamiliar debt, you should ask the collector for more information about the money owed, such as account applications and statements. The collector must notify the original creditor about the fraud or the identity theft.

It is a good idea to ask the collector to send you their fraud affidavit form. The best option to not be a victim is prevention; there are a number of ways to protect your identity. Most importantly, protect your social security number.

Don’t ever carry your social security card in your pocketbook. Only give out your social security number when it is absolutely necessary. If there are other types of identification that you can utilize in any situation, use that.

If you are not sure why a business is asking for your number, always ask why. You should put passwords on your bank, phone and credit card accounts. Try not to choose passwords that could be easily guessed. Combinations of numbers, letters and special characters are usually the best.

Keep your information secure. Keep an eye on your wallet, and keep your information in a safe place at home. Shred your charge receipts, copies of credit applications, checks, bank statements and credit offers you receive in the mail. You can stop receiving pre screened offers of credit in the mail by calling 1-888-5-OPT-OUT. Always promptly remove mail from the mailbox.

A preventative method that might be worth thinking over is identity theft insurance. While it won’t put an end to identity theft it can soften the damages to an extent. Bear in mind that in addition to loss of money, identity theft is time consuming. Also, many law enforcement officers and companies will only speak with you, making it impossible for someone else to help you.

Mallory McGuinness-Hickey is employed by debt collection company Rapid Recovery Solution and writes storieson business and finance.

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FTC Forces Con Man To Pay Up

On February 15, 2010, In business, By Mallory Megan

The Federal Trade commission plans to award 1.6 million dollars to thousands of consumers who were tricked into paying money that they did not owe by scam artists who used threats, harassment and lies to get them to pay up.

In 2003, the FTC sued three companies that were operating under the name, National Check Control. They charged them with harassing and abusing customers. The list of grievances included falsely threatening criminal prosecution, collecting amounts that were not due, illegally communicating with third parties and other violations of federal laws.

Two years later the court put a permanent halt on their business and demanded that they to pay back the consumers they had scammed. The defendants, Check Investors Inc, Check Enforcement Inc, Jaredco, Inc and the companies owner Barry Sussman attempted to appeal the case to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court but to no avail.

One day after the appeals court didn’t agree to look into his appeal, Sussman suspiciously retrieved an amount of coins valued at $335,000 from a bank safe deposit box. The federal court demanded that he turn over them to the FTC to pay back the consumers. Later, a federal jury convicted him of two felony counts, one for theft of government property and one for obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to forty one months in federal prison and is serving his sentence now.

The FTC was able to recover 1.6 million dollars to give back to the conned consumers. They plan to distribute the funds to 24,916 consumers who lost a hundred dollars or more as a result of the scam. They will begin to receive checks this month.

The Federal Trade Commission is responsible for preventing fraudulent, unfair, and deceptive practices that might hurt consumers. They also provide information to aid a consumer in seeing, stopping, and avoiding scams.

Mallory McGuinness is employed by a debt collection company. Also she does articlesabout business, finance, consumer spending and debt collection.

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