Debt Collectors Pursue One In Seven Americans

Naked Capitalism:

I went through the Federal Reserve’s Quarterly Release on Household Debt and Credit released today, and there were two notable trends. One is that the amount of consumer debt is declining, but that delinquency rates are stabilizing above what they were before the crisis. And the second is in this graph, which is that the number of people subject to third party collections has doubled since 2000, from a little less than 7% to a little over 14% of consumers. Ten years ago, one in fourteen American consumers were pursued by debt collectors. Today it’s one in seven.

Read the whole story: Naked Capitalism

Comments

[mutopis]

07:35 AM on 02/29/2012

There are now thousands of people legally jailed because they aren’t paying their bills, ie. debtor’s prisons have returned. Occasionally elites let it slip that this is not an accident, but is their goal – former Comptroller General David Walker has wistfully pined for debtor’s prisons overtly

And they told me I was crazy when I said the rich will jail the poor for being poor...

[kamact]

12:50 AM on 02/29/2012

Go get the money from bush, Chenin, and the TBTF banksters,....

[PrairieGayCompanion]

12:16 AM on 02/29/2012

So, an ABC news report from 2007 is the basis for this 2012 headline?

[Kevin Rayburn]

11:41 PM on 02/28/2012

kinda of curious why that pic with the name barrak obama underneath it looks alot like that bush fella.

[scottishboy]

11:32 PM on 02/28/2012

What in God's name does Bush's picture have to do with this?

[lvdragonlady]

06:47 AM on 02/29/2012

I think it has to do with HIM being the one that put those new creditor rules in place.

[Almondo]

09:50 PM on 02/28/2012

"I am a corporation and I have immunity".

[Almondo]

09:50 PM on 02/28/2012

I would just tell them, "Sorry, deficits don't matter, click"

[loganhunter]

09:27 PM on 02/28/2012

People , pay your bills,
however, if you are being harassed by any company, simply take your phone off the hook or turn it off and dont use vm.
Its how biz deals with customer "service"

[prodemlib]

09:14 PM on 02/28/2012

I don't understand why HP used GWBs picture on this article

[reality4u2]

09:09 PM on 02/28/2012

GW will always be the lib/dem bogyman. They still check under their beds and soil their skivvies at the mere mention of his name. For a guy they said was so dumb, he sure owns them.

[MyNameIsJames]

09:49 PM on 02/28/2012

The entire nation - except for White Southerners were disgusted with him. It was not exclusively a Democratic thing AND YOU KNOW THAT! Why play dumb?

[reality4u2]

11:14 PM on 02/28/2012

And yet he was elected twice. Your post fails.

[ThankGodhesgone]

10:50 PM on 02/28/2012

If you think that it was only Dems, explain how none of the candidates in the Repub party have never uttered his name, let alone touted his accomplishments?

It seems that they think that the last good Repub president was Reagan.

[reality4u2]

11:12 PM on 02/28/2012

Because the current Republicans- unlike the Dem's who need to try and use GW to try and gloss over their failures - are looking to the future correct Obama's failures as opposed to living in the past.

[Grichde]

08:56 PM on 02/28/2012

I'm thinking people should pay their debts.

[Bigleague]

10:31 PM on 02/28/2012

Problem is that sometimes the worst offenders of these bottom feeding group of collectors are trying to collect debts that do not exist. And whether or not people can pay some debts now that they have lost their job and have to choose between food and their credit card bill the tactics that are being used are simply illegal. Legitimate debts or not it is illegal to do what some of them are doing.

[rhenz]

10:12 AM on 03/25/2013

Don't let the Republican House hear you saying that. They have been voting against paying for Bush's wars for ten years!

[Taliese]

08:49 PM on 02/28/2012

I'm sure part of this increase (1 in 7 people being harassed) has to do with the latest debt collection trend: Z0mbie Debt. These c/re-t ins buy time-barred debt, some dated as far back as 25 years old and begin collection attempts, despite the fact that the statute of limitations (SOL) has run out. While the SOL varies from state to state, the average is between 4 to 10 years.

Unfortunately, these people don't even care if the debt is time-barred, or if they've got the wrong person. They will continue to call and harass until either, they get what they want, or you stand up to them. They make their money from consumers who don't know their rights.

We had one calling us for a while, and the debt wasn't even ours! It took forever to get rid of them because we didn't know our rights. Once we did a little research, we sent them a F.0.A.D. letter and they left us alone. Only problem is, once they realize they're not getting a dime out of you, they just sell your name to somebody else, and the process begins anew.

[Bigleague]

10:35 PM on 02/28/2012

Exactly. That has happened to us 4 times for the same bogus debt. I can usually get them to stop calling me just by saying, before you say another word you need to be advised that this conversation is being taped. That any and all communication has to be done in writing. And all the other things that they know they will never do. It is so annoying. It isn't even if the debt is bogus or if it is legitimate, it is the fact that what many of them are doing is illegal and they don't care.

[NunyaBus99]

11:49 PM on 02/28/2012

Exactly many states have time barred debts, i think many for credit cards for instance is 6 years from the last payment.
I helped my sister to draft a letter: Here is an example.

Regarding the debt that I was just apprised about , I DO NOT Acknowledge or owe the debt.. You stated the last payment was in XXXX. As indicated above the statute of limitations in collecting a credit card debt in AZ is 6years.

This letter is notice of the following and has been sent return receipt and copies made.
1. ALL communication must be in writing. No other form of communication will be allowed. Per FDCPA section 805, subsection C Subsection 1-3
2. I will not being paying this debt as I DO NOT Acknowledge or owe the debt. Besides I have no job, No income and threatening to sue me means nothing. You can’t garnish my Social Security. Furthermore, threatening to sue me without specifying when such action will take place is a violation of the FDCPA.
3. Since this is a time-barred debt I will have the suit dismissed by letting the court or judge know the debt I do not owe is, indeed, time-barred," according to the FTC.
4. A debt collector may not threaten to sue on a time-barred account, You can ask for payment but not sue. Again, I am refusing to pay or Acknowledge the debt.

hope this helps anyone in the situation.

[Ramseytwo]

07:30 PM on 02/28/2012

OMG, W is a repo man??

[Patricia Russell]

06:47 PM on 02/28/2012

if I get any calls, I say in some sort of asian accent

"Missy not home."

[gaydood]

06:27 PM on 02/28/2012

nice pic of w with his mouth open