Diana Mey Has Trouble Collecting Court-Ordered $10 Million From Debt Collectors

One woman is having trouble getting a debt collector to fork over its debt to her.

Diana Mey, a West Virginia housewife, won an eight-figure court judgment last summer after being subjected to what she calls abusive and unjustified harassment from debt collectors, according to ABC News.

So Mey fought back, and in August a judge awarded her $10,860,000. But the collection agency appears to have dried up and disappeared, according to ABC News. And at this point, it's not clear whether Mey will ever get her money.

Though it's a mixed victory, Mey's $10 million judgment represents one of the biggest strikes to date against the debt collection industry, whose members have grown markedly more aggressive in the last few years, according to a recent report from Marketdata Enterprises, a market research firm.

More and more, people like Mey are fighting back. In California, to take a particularly striking example, the number of lawsuits accusing debt collectors of "violating federal law" has exploded in the last seven years, according to the Sacramento Bee.

The debt collection field is more crowded than it used to be, thanks to advances in home technology, which makes it easier for small-time entrepreneurs to get involved in the debt collection business. And the economic downturn has left more Americans unable to settle their debts, thanks to widespread unemployment and wages that are barely going up for most people.

At this point, there are countless accounts of debt collectors going to remarkable lengths to pursue and intimidate people who may or may not owe money. Collectors have been accused of calling people out on Facebook, badgering patients in hospitals, making ghoulish threats about digging up dead bodies, and falsely claiming that debtors could face arrest if they don't settle what they owe.

One in seven Americans has had some kind of interaction with a debt collector, according to Federal Reserve data -- a rate twice as high as 10 years ago. And the Federal Trade Commission received a record 164,361 public complaints about debt collectors in 2011, according to The Wall Street Journal.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this post wrongly referred to Mey's $10 million judgment as a settlement.

Comments

[1023BS]

08:55 AM on 05/07/2012

Well... You get what you pay for, right? The hunter is now the hunted...hire a couple of good collection agency's to track down the owners of the one that disappeared. ...yup

http://www.creditimpress.com http://www.electsolutions.net

[billadams47]

01:40 PM on 04/30/2012

I think there is an association group in which she could contact for this, like the association of debt collectors, if this collection agency was a member of any of those group then the group is on the hook as well and should be made to cover this debt - check it out.
[e-mail] maybe I can assist - if I can I will, Thank You for Reading.

[AnthonyGalvez]

06:45 AM on 05/16/2012

Don't give legal counsel. It is illegal unless you are an Esquire.

[Eris23Skidoo]

08:11 PM on 04/28/2012

If this debt collector is able to just "dematerialize" then doesn't that put the lie to the idea the corporations are people? They clearly are not. People aren't able to "dematerialize" and "rematerialize" later with a new name. Someone quick! Tell the supreme court about this case! And then remind them to not be late for their appointment. America wants to lynch them.

[venitapeyton]

11:11 AM on 04/28/2012

Sounds like the company signed new reorganization papers before the ink was dry on the judge's ruling. Makes me wonder: are we still allowing ill-prepared people to serve as magistrates and judges? In this economy, isn't that kinda crazy?

[AnthonyGalvez]

06:56 AM on 05/16/2012

If the company was uninsured with E&O or other insurance, they will close shop. In most states where licensure is required for a specific proffession, the qualification application for a firm usually requires the applicant to submit a report of any judgements against them as Officers of the any firm they have led.

How much due diligence the state does to verify the info in unknown.

[askskia]

08:17 AM on 04/28/2012

Stop suing corporations and start suing people!

[Silverado Lady]

03:40 AM on 04/28/2012

Let's REGULATE ALL collection companies because they are truly OUT OF CONTROL right now - there should also be REGULATIONS on the reselling of ALREADY PAID DEBT - because these ____________ will try to collect, as many times as they can, on debt THAT WAS PAID YEARS AGO.

[R Harvey]

12:52 AM on 04/28/2012

The agency should just turnover 10 million in assets, which in their case are charged off receivables. At 10 cents on the dollar that would be 100 million in face value of debt. if the average account is 2500.00 that would be 40,000 accounts that she will have to start collecting on to get her money. In three months spending 8 hours a day one minute per call she might reach all of her new debtors. Some of whom might have already paid and who should sue her for more than 10,000,000.00

[Razpooten]

06:13 PM on 04/27/2012

Collectors know the ropes. They know they don't have to pay.

[Razpooten]

06:11 PM on 04/27/2012

Trying to collect from a collector? rots of rock...

[randinoel]

01:42 PM on 04/27/2012

I'm sooo tired of this. Every single month for the past 11 months, I've faithfully made mixed payment amounts ( sometimes twice a month even) to a debt agency. And, every single month, I get badgered to pay more. It should be very simple, I pay every month and pay what I can, without the badgering and harassment. It seems like I cant get a break here...

[lkbk]

05:54 PM on 04/27/2012

Randinoel, what if a person owed you a debt? Let's say you sold your car to someone and financed the deal. What if they agreed to pay you back $200 a month but when push came to shove, they only paid you what they could- say, $100 a month. When you took on their debt, it was for an agreed upon amount. You went and bought yourself another car and owe that person $250 a month to pay off your new car. Now that they're not paying you, you are out the money and can't pay your debt off. Don't you think you would want them to pay you what they said they would pay you? Wouldn't you be upset if they didn't since it would effect your finances? Does it seem any clearer as to why they keep calling you when the shoes on the other foot? I don't think people should get harassed (especially if it's not their debt like the article's subject). How would you suggest they motivate the person in debt to pay what they owe? Shame would motivate me, maybe they should have their names posted on a board for the whole town to see so no one else would let them buy something on credit....? I think I would pay up before I made any other purchases---and even sell what I bought to pay it back to those I owe. That would give you the break you're looking for.

[Eris23Skidoo]

08:14 PM on 04/28/2012

Why does any of this justify a debt collection company "dematerializing" when the shoe was put on the other foot?

[menckensghost]

01:18 PM on 04/27/2012

Congratulations to this woman, but she will never see a dime of it because these bill / debt collection companies are set up and torn down at will - all the time. Sadly, even the $10M judgement won't dissuade them. Note that the company won't even appeal the judgement, they'll just shut down one LLC and 24 hours later start another!

[mijjy]

05:16 PM on 04/27/2012

Uh, huh.

[Razpooten]

06:12 PM on 04/27/2012

Yup, its;s the ol' shell game.

[USAFVET77]

12:43 PM on 04/27/2012

Hmmm maybe she should get an automated phone dialer and set it to call them twice every hour everyday of the week, and demand a payment lol...
She has now become the Collector...
Poor lady will probably never get all that cash though, maybe she should call "Oasis" and get 70% of her cash and let Oasis worry about getting the 10 mil.

[laffFUwant]

09:05 AM on 04/28/2012

Automated phone dialers is a good idea. Harass the harasser. Sometimes if you call back, there is no one there! If your number ever gets on the list of a crazy company offering free shopping cards,selling stuff, your life will become a living h e l. They will sell your number to others. Your phone will ring 24-7. Nothing is totally free.

[USCitizen60]

11:35 AM on 04/27/2012

$10,000,000 is too much money.

[Eris23Skidoo]

08:17 PM on 04/28/2012

Ten billion would be too much. Ten million is right about perfect. But they should have put the entire board of that corporation on the suit so they couldn't just dissolve.

[imonlyhereforthelaughs]

09:03 AM on 04/27/2012

If nothing else...all of the people whose debt was purchased by the collection agency this woman sued should thank her. If the company no longer exists, they won't have to pay any of that money owed. As far as the original debtor is concerned, your debt was paid the day the collection agency bought it.

[medicontheedge]

10:59 AM on 04/27/2012

Shoot. That company still exists, just under a different name.The problem is finding it.
She has become, in a sense, a debt collector herself!

[outtopastur]

07:08 AM on 04/27/2012

Their misery would be my mission in life: Track down the owners, arrest and throw them in jail for contempt of court and freeze their assets--even if it is just one penny.

Why not? These sorry sacks of (censored) are guilty as sin and don't have any problems throwing innocent people in jail and seizing their bank accounts. Turn about is fair play.