The Debt Collection Industry in America has Changed

The debt collection industry in America has taken a turn for the worse. Gone are the days when consumers and collectors could talk and work out reasonable settlements, based on professionalism and accepted business practices. Today’s debt collector is viewed as an uneducated, job hopping, drug induced moron who is under incredible pressure to hit a quota or face job loss. Owners are flush with large hordes of cash, so paying off lawsuits has become just another cost of doing business. Washington, DC and your state capital is not concerned about this problem and the FTC and your state attorney’s general are too over-whelmd to make a dent in the problem.

I receive more than 400 emails every day from consumers complaining about the illegal tactics used by debt collectors to fleece them out of their money. You file is now a ‘case number’, everyone is a ‘legal assistant’ or you’ve reached the ‘pre-litigation department’ which is nothing more than a call center where everyone is strung out on something, from an abundance of caffeine, uppers, downers, coke and smoke. Most blame the pressure of the industry as it has exploded in the past three years to numbers that were once unimaginable. This has caused the debt buying segment to expand to a billion dollar industry and accounts that are ten and fifteen years old, to be back on the front burner, with a renewed vigor by the over-zealous debt collector to seperate you from your cash.

To add to the pressures on both sides, the bottom feeders, those who buy old accounts are taking extreme measures to collect at the expense of violating laws and in many cases, committing crimes. These violations from organizations such as Unifund, Asset Acceptance, Midland Credit,  Account Management Services, Collect America, NCO,Shekinah,and anyone with a Buffalo, NY address threatening legal actions, posing as law enforcement and attorneys, manufacturing bogus documentation to validate their court filings, purchasing money orders to show phony payments on accounts, contacting third parties, violating everything the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) states they should not legally be allowed to do.

The time has come to make changes and give consumers weapons to fight back these parasites of the American economy. I read recently where notorious bottom feeder Unifund, of Cincinnati, OH was at a debt buyers conference and their booth sign read: “FUTURE HOME LIENS FOR SALE!” Unifund president David G. Rosenberg has made millions living off the misery of others, with his despicable collection practices and innovated a lot of the bogus court filings that are now common. The good news is there are new ways you can employ to counter the moves of these parasites for both now and in the future that will make their jobs harder, more costly and bring a wrath of new legal problems upon them.

Having more than twenty years experience in this business, talked to millions of consumers dispensing advice, a few books, lots of radio and television and an upcoming movie on my resume, I feel it is now time to share this knowledge on a scale that will arm the average consumer with information and resources to considerably up the ante for the debt collector. I’m looking for your input, your feedback on proven methods that will change how debt collectors operate. This blog will be a place to get assistance on dealing with the debt collectors on a scale that slows them down, holds them accountable, gives you power you never knew you had and ways to bring their collections to a crawl.

We will also ask for those working in the industry to share their thoughts, secrets, business practices and give us an insight to what’s wrong with the collection industry in America.