Over the past year or so we’ve taken to using a forum format instead of the blog, so we’ve decided to close the blog to further comments. Instead, please come join the forum discussions about arbitration and debt collection:
We look forward to seeing you there!
One of the bigger drawbacks to having a blog that moves so rapidly (thanks Frank!) is Bud is unable to tackle these comments as they come in. As the Blogmaster, I can parse some of the information, but when they include inaccurate or incomplete information (like the debate on Bud’s name, the “Wire-tapping Charge” or the lawsuit against the phone company) it makes it difficult to keep the conversation on the same level.
There’s an old saying “A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can get its shoes tied.” That’s appropriate here.
Now, having said all that, Bud has responded to “Collectors Chime In” from the top to the bottom, and the “Debt Collection Industry” portions of the blog, but not yet to the threads generated from the BlogMasters Comments. So to be fair, glance through some of those older posts and see if the Bold BUD HIBBS RESPONDS answers some of those questions.
I have a unique perspective to this industry as I deal with consumers and collectors daily. Both are angry.
The collectors rise up in dozens of emails daily defending their position and their actions. After all, Budhibbs.com is attacking their livelihood, and no doubt when a consumer on the phone mentions he saw a collector on the website and their reputation was less than stellar, it has to complicate the collector’s task.
Someone commented in this blog that if everyone held to the law, a Bud Hibbs wouldn’t exist. That’s probably true. The decent collectors – those ACA members who don’t abuse their positions, who follow the FDCPA and collect within the confines of the law rarely complain about Bud Hibbs or his website.
But for every law-abiding collection agency, there’s one which sprang up overnight – lured by easy money and the anonymity of the phone. For them, the FDCPA is wasted paper; the FTC has no authority and the State’s Attorney General is too busy with legitimate crime to worry about phone harassment, misunderstandings and so on. It’s these get-rich-quick outfits that have given the entire collection industry a black eye.
From this office, we see the laws broken, the suits filed and settled, the abuse, the lies and the efforts engaged to collect on 10-12 year old time-barred, out of statue debts. Often, these are re-collection attempts on debts that have been paid. It’s these monstrous agencies the Budhibbs.com site works to expose.
Much of what is written on the site is called hyperbole and exzaggeration; but much of it comes from the same collectors who six months earlier are cussing us out for making their job so difficult. When they are fired or come to their senses, the first thing they do is contact us with the inside scoop. The amount of information passing through here daily is staggering. If what ultimately gets posted is so far out of line, why aren’t the collectors suing to have it taken down? Their own documents don’t lie. (Well, actually, their own documents do lie, so they probably don’t want them brought up in court.)
In my experience, the collectors who scream the loudest are usually the ones who are most outside the law. Our consumer emails run as high as 800 per day; it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to match up complaints against violators.
Was it Frank who said “wield the sword, expect the sword to be used against you?” Bud gets the sword swung his way more than you might imagine. Ask any Buffalo (suspect) collector – and they’ll tell you Bud collected next to them as recently as 6 months ago. Or that he ran up huge debt and had his life ruined by debt collectors, vowing to take vengance. Or how about that DUI – Bud doesn’t drink, but there is a Bud Hibbs in south Texas with a violation. Wiretapping? Not quite. Read the documents and see who prevailed in that action. Not his real name? Asked and answered now for over 30 years.
Bud has no problem with collectors that obey the law. Debt buyers claim you owe the money. Yes, but to whom? Does that mere fact allow the law to be circumvented?
Debt buyers and agencies DO spring up overnight – it’s very lucrative. And because three or four agencies may be working the same tired paper, the consumer is getting carpetbombed with little advice or help. The Budhibbs.com site exists to provide a map to the hidden minefields.
It’s a great discussion gentlemen – and I trust you’ll keep it on a non-personal level. The facts can be stated without digging into personalities.
We’ve tried to keep this open, honest and above-board. So far, I’ve edited only one message – and that was to remove a duplicate post. We’ve blocked no one from the discussion; the only advantage I see is that Bud has the capability to respond within the same message. (Then again, as he can only answer about twice a week, unless you check each message for a comment, many may not see his responses.)
I’d like to comment on some of the things – a blogmaster should have that right…
The association between the budhibbs.com site and “other advocates” does not exist. There are hundreds of sites that link to budhibbs.com Some we know of and approve, others took it upon themselves to link to us. We know of three such sites that have “copied” our pages almost verbatim. You can search the budhibbs.com site for external links, but I’ll save you the trouble: naca.net, myfaircredit.com, the credit bureaus, providiansucks.com, nclc.com.
Bud refers folks to NACA because he knows their stand on Consumer issues – and is proud to be one of the few non-attorney members.
The BlogMaster.
I appreciate the fact that you are an advocate to ill treated consumers but
not all collection agencys are bad. Some of them are truly there to help and
some collecters make alot of money because they do there job and work hard
like many other people in this country. Also some things on your web site
are true but you are not giving the consumers all of the information.
Collection agencys cannot remove anything from your credit report, true, but
the origional creditor can, should the consumer follow the stipulations the
origional creditor set out to get a negative trade removed from your credit.
Also some collectors (such as those who collect on federal student loans)
collect because when the money is given back it can go out again to other
young minds who want to go to college but cannot afford high tuitions,
books, lab fees and so on. And when it comes to garnishment collection
agencys cannot do that either but it can be done by the origional creditor.
I have seen social security be garnished. For automatic withdraws an
intelligent debtor will get an agreement in writing and ask for verification
of the amount of funds being withdrawn and when the funds are being
withdrawn. Your web site may help some people who do actually get treated
unfairly by collectors but for some it’s showing them how to avoid paying
bills. thanks -knowledgeable
