subject: Complaints About Collection Agencies Are On The Rise [print this page] The proof is in the pudding, and here it isThe proof is in the pudding, and here it is. The amount of lawsuits and complaints about abusive, illegal and strong arm collection tactics that some dishonest debt collection agencies use to collect has increased significantly in the past couple of years. Attorney Michael J. Koopmans, a lawyer who represents debtors who have been wronged weighs in with his opinion. According to Koopmans, he handles thirty to fifty cases at one time, all of them clients who claim that they have been bullied, harassed, and even threatened by collection companies.
Koopmans points out that this is a time where consumer debt is at an all time high and the economy is at an all time low, and at a time when a lot of people cannot afford to pay what they owe in one lump sum, he has seen that as of late, debt collectors are becoming less and less willing to work out some sort of a payment plan. "Now the debt collectors are claiming they can not do that" says Koopmans. "They say they're only going to have this account for a short while, that they need a lot of the money, they need it fast, and they need it up front."
The Deputy Attorney General of Indiana, David Paetzmaann, asserts that his office gets at least a dozen telephone calls every week from people complaining about collection agencies who they feel are treating them unfairly. According to Paetzmann, the number of calls has grown by more than twenty percent from only four years ago.
One of the debt collection agencies that has fingered the most goes by the name of Premiere Credit of North America. A spokeswoman has countered that the agency has "tough policies, training, and monitoring against harassment and threats." What does Paetzmann suggest? That consumers break out the books and bone up on their knowledge of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the legal restrictions that it puts on collection agents.
For one, a collection agent can only legally contact people between eight o'clock AM and nine o'clock PM. Additionally, the act also strictly prohibits collection agents from lying to you by claiming that they have the authority to arrest you or seize your property (they don't). They are not permitted to discuss your debt with anyone else, and attempting to collect a fee for themselves in addition to the amount you already owe is clearly illegal as well.
