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posted on 2009-10-20 by Roger Knauf
A Consumer Financial Protection Agency Would Offer
Many Benefits
Your
editorial "Another Scary Czar" (Oct. 8)
appropriately airs many concerns that the financial services industry has about
the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA).
Our
organization recognizes the problems and potential excesses CFPA poses.
However, one regulator for both originating creditors and debt buyers could
eliminate confusion for the financial services industry and consumers alike.
CFPA must be given pre-emptive rule-making authority over states, or this super
agency will be an ineffective paper tiger with little authority to create
protection for consumers nationwide.
Debt
buyers today operate under state-by-state regulation, with different rules and
attitudes about enforcement. Several states have sought short statutes of
limitations—as little as three years—along with extinguishing the creditors'
rights to collect overdue bills, hoping to protect consumers from the excesses
of a small minority of debt collectors.
Shortening
the time period in which creditors can collect on past due debts further
tightens credit standards in order to limit a lender's risk. It leaves many
creditors with no choice but to rush to the courtrooms seeking judgments, with
the cost of that unnecessary litigation passed on to the consumer.
Credit is
a simple idea that has become a part of our national fabric, from the loans
that make purchasing a home possible, to the revolving credit that makes
smaller purchases convenient. It's incredibly hard to protect simple ideas in a
single piece of complex legislation. CFPA could be a viable solution to
consumer protection, but with federal pre-emption, this one agency could have
the ability to protect all consumers and businesses equally.
Roger Knauf
Executive
Director
DBA
International
McLean,
Va.
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posted on 2009-09-23 by Joel Lackey
Dear Forbes and Mr. Hawkins,
I am a very busy person and have
never responded to a published article, but I feel compelled to comment on
"How
To Outsmart Your Debt Collector."
The attitude of, "What can I
get away with, or out of because of a meaningless technicality?" is
exactly what our society does not need.
As the owner of an 18-year-old collection
agency, we are swamped with hyper-technical lawsuits from "ambulance
chasing" attorneys and debtors who are searching for a way to get out of
paying a legitimately owed debt. The number of these suits has increased
dramatically over the past few years, and the merit of these suits are
typically laughable with absolutely no damage suffered by
the debtor. The primary reason for this is that attorneys have become aware of
the fact that a third-party debt collector cannot win when sued. It is simply a
matter of how bad you are going to lose. Even if you win in court, you have
lost big-time in that it will likely cost you tens of thousands of dollars to
prove your case. Let's see, settle for $4,000 even though you did nothing wrong
and the charges against you were completely unreasonable or fabricated, or roll
the dice to prove your innocence and spend $30,000 in the process. That is,
$30,000 if you win, and by the way, you will have no meaningful chance of
recovering any of your costs.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices
Act (FDCPA) is over 30 years old and largely regulates communication pertaining
to debt collecting. Keep in mind, when FDCPA was crafted over 30 years ago,
answering machines were not even used, let alone faxing, e-mailing, texting,
etc. ... The FDCPA is in desperate need of being updated, and many attorneys
take advantage of this fact. It is filled with vague language and gray areas
that are ripe for misinterpretation, which is just wonderful for low-level
plaintiff's attorneys who are looking to make a quick buck at the expense of
those performing an honest and needed service. Most third-party collectors go
to great lengths and expense in an effort to comply with the FDCPA. Third-party
collectors, at least the vast, vast majority of us, are simply attempting to
get someone, the debtor, to make good on his/her legitimate obligation. What's
not good and noble about that?
It seems that your article actually
encourages bad behavior and "making out" on a trivial technicality.
Just because you can get away with something does not make it right. And I
doubt you would be so keen on technicalities if someone in your family was the
victim of a violent crime and it was found that an arresting officer of the
accused perpetrator mishandled two trivial words in reading Miranda rights to
the accused.
Maybe that headline could read,
"How to Outsmart Your Arresting Officer After Committing a Violent
Crime."
I give you the benefit of the doubt
in that most people do not see things from our perspective; however, your
article is disturbing, and it is never "smart" to devoid yourself of
your rightful responsibilities. It is simply immoral!
Thank you,
Joel Lackey
President
www.nationalcreditsystems.com
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posted on 2009-09-02 by Jim Stratton
Press release of the week so far goes to ACA
International, the association representing debt collection agencies around the
world.
It starts by pointing out that in 2008,
complaints about debt collection firms was the number one problem cited by the
National Association of Attorneys General. More people complained about debt
collectors than they did car salesman, contractors and even
telemarketers.
But lest you get the wrong idea, ACA
International officials want to make clear that they're really looking out for
you. They say they want to find ways to weed out the "small fringe of bad
actors."
"There is no place in our industry for debt
collectors who cannot treat consumers with dignity and respect," said Rozanne
Andersen, the executive vice president and general counsel for ACA
International. "The members of ACA International do not condone nor endorse any
illegal, unethical or deceptive tactics when it comes to collectors contacting
consumers."
To that end, the ACA board recently agreed to
"explore the development of a national debt collection dispute resolution
program."
It also "gave a green light this summer to
further discussion on and research the concept of creating a national
debt-collector registry."
So the group will "explore the development" of
a mediation panel and have "further discussion" on "the concept" of creating a
national registry.
Wow, that sort of bold action will send the
"bad actors" scurrying for cover.
I am intrigued, though, by the debt-collector
registry idea.
Do you suppose they'll have to alert nearby
homeowners when they move into a new neighborhood?
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posted on 2009-07-29 by Steve Ruderman
This month
was a tough one for the collections industry. Attorney Generals from New York,
Ohio and Virginia all went after collection agencies and collection attorney
firms. Each of these attorney generals claimed that the agencies were violating
the fair debt collections act and even claimed fraudulent activity. The Minnesota AG literally shut down the
arbitration business by closing down the National Arbitration Association’s
credit card arbitration business, which was followed by the American
Arbitration Association backing out of the debt collection arbitration business
as well. AG’s settled with Bank of America on the foreclosure issues with its'
Countrywide subprime division it bought. Even the rental business is not safe.
Rent-a-Center is being accused of illegal collection practices in the state of Washington,
including harassing customers with profanity during collection calls and
scaring children by telling them that their parents would be jailed.
Is it coincidence that all these items are
happening at once or is there a pattern that is being set? Has the Attorney
Generals had enough with the financial services industry or have they figured
out a way to go after an industry that is not popular with the media and has
deep pockets to gain a badly needed revenue source? The states are hurting for
revenue and is our industry the target of a way to increase their revenues? Unfortunately
our industry is a prime target for politicians. Lisa Madigan the AG from
Illinois (who has aspirations of higher offices) has said the worst type of
companies are polluters and collectors. Great, we have been categorized with
those who damage our environment. Let’s face it; we do not work in a user
friendly industry. I spent 10 years working for one of the credit reporting
agencies, when someone heard that I worked there it usually was followed up
with a “you ruined my credit” comment. How often do you get a positive comment
when you say you work in the collections marketplace? “Thanks for collecting
all those debts owed, we know it keeps our rates down!” If you consider that
90% plus of consumers pay their bills on time and have a serious issue in
having to pay for someone else who does not pay their bill. If everybody paid
their bills on time, interest rates would be low and borrowing would never be
an issue.I know I would not want to end
up in court in front of 12 jurors and explain that I think the 12 jurors should
have to pay my bills because I can’t afford to pay my own bills. If a
politician is looking to gain popularity ask them about debt collection
agencies? Regulate them, enforce against them, and never support us publicly.
The fact that our industry is very necessary to recover funds for businesses is
a lost issue.
Our industry
certainly is not without its faults. We have created this two headed monster
with a lot of bad business moves. Universal default will not go down as a smart
business decision, profitable in the short run, devastating in the long run. There
are rouge agencies out there that do whatever it takes to collect outstanding balances.
And the main stream press loves that. Nothing better than getting a collector
on tape (or better yet film) screaming and cursing at a poor little old
consumer who happens to have the same name as another deadbeat bill dodger.
Overzealous collectors can take your business from profitable to shut down if
they are not closely monitored. You have such a fine line to balance, if you
are overly nice, good luck getting paid. If you are over aggressive, good luck
getting paid and expect an on rush of media, consumer lawyers and politicians.
Taking the approach as a professional is the best approach. You need empathy
for the consumers today, who with the current economic conditions are
completely different than the debt dodgers of the past. Now you have middle and
upper class debtors who have never experienced delinquencies. How you treat
these individuals now, will have a lasting effect on the consumers and our
industry.
The concept
of self regulation has been tossed around for a while but has recently taken on
a new drive. Let’s face it, if we do not control the industry, the government
will do it. And we all know how successful the government is in regulating an
industry. The hardest part of self regulation will be the breaking of the bonds
and codes that exist about supporting your brethren in the collections industry.
If they are not complying with the laws then turn them in. Let’s clean up our
industry before the government does it. And judging by the number of Attorney
Generals and FTC complaints, it is just a matter of time before regulations
take hold. New York, New Jersey and North Carolina already have pending bills
and more states are looking at new laws.
People, lets
clean it up now and take out our own trash before the government does it for
us!
Your comments are welcome.
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posted on 2009-07-22 by Allen Harkleroad
You just gotta love New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. He is a
living legend after my own heart. Too bad the Federal Trade Commission ( FTC)
refuses to do what Mr. Cuomo is doing, namely protecting US consumers
from illegal and predatory debt collectors. No wonder why President
Obama is so gung-ho about creating a new consumer agency, mainly
because FTC employees sit around collecting government (tax payer
funded) paychecks and lets abusive debt collection companies abuse
consumers.
One hundred thousand New Yorkers were scammed and almost 7,000 are
from the Rochester area. Now, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is doing
something about it.
Cuomo says it's the largest debt collection scam he's ever seen and starting today, the victims are being notified.
Cuomo says his office has sued 35 different law firms and two debt
collectors in New York State alone in relation to this scam. Three of
those firms are in the Rochester area. The firms were led by a company
called American Legal Process (ALP) which illegally placing leans and
repossessing people's assets. Read the full story on WHEC-TV
I personally hope President Obama, snatches consumer law issues away
from the Federal Trade Commission and hands it over to an agency that
might actually protect consumers. The FTC has failed consumers time and
time again. Hey, Federal Trade Commission, want to keep your consumer
law enforcement privileges? Then try protecting consumers from abusive
debt collectors. Another words stop resting on your laurels and get
your a$$ to work protecting consumers.
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