November 29, 2005
Beating the Bill Collector, Series 1
You’re in debt up to your eyeballs. The bill collector is hounding you everywhere you go. What do you do?
When you are in debt and don’t see any options, then what do you do?
Hard questions?
They were for me when I was deeply in debt.
And when you are down what happens? The bill collectors start kicking you. They hound you and your family and even your neighbors. They call you at work. They call your boss. Sure you owe the money. You know that; they know that. It isn’t usually a matter of not WANTING to pay but the inability to pay. Why can’t they see that?
The truth be told, the collection agency doesn’t care. They have heard all the sob stories before. To them, you are just irresponsible and trying to welch on your debts. “Thems” the hard, cold facts.
So how do you beat the bill collector?
First of all, grow a backbone. It surprises me the number of people that get intimidated by collection agencies. The agencies scream “We are gonna sue ya!” and lil ol’consumer shivers like she is Scooby Doo, and then pays up somehow, someway. But if you just grew a backbone and stood your ground you’ll see that all they are is small dog with a very large bark. Hell, 90% of all their threats are just hot air.
On Thanksgiving Day I was watching TV during one of those rare moments when I wasn’t working and I saw one those People’s Court type shows with a twist. I think the show was called an “Eye for and Eye”.
Out comes the judge carrying of all things a baseball bat with “justice” printed on it in block letters.
What makes this show remarkable was the case. Normally I hate these shows because all they are is a bunch of stupid trailer trash yelling at each other saying “he did that; she did that”. Bunk. Shut up, people! Jeesh!
The case in this instance was of a Collection Agency rep named Tony suing some woman that had co-signed on a loan with her ex-boyfriend to get some tires and rims. The boyfriend had defaulted on the loan and skipped town, leaving this woman holding the bag. Of course, she didn’t see it this way. Her idea was that it was the boyfriend’s debt and he should be made to pay it and not her. This created the situation for the suit.
I really enjoyed this episode because it really showcased the collection agency industry and the tactics that they use.
The woman brought a witness that testified that Tony said that the debt could be forgiven if she was willing to sleep with a friend of his. The woman also brought to the case a tape recording of Tony threatening her, telling her that he would ruin her credit for the rest of her life, and on, and on, and on.
Tony won the case (as he should have) but…He didn’t win the way he wanted to win.
The judge ruled in favor of Tony, yes…and the woman was ordered to pay the debt. But judge was smart in this case. He ordered that another collection agency collect the debt, and he ordered Tony to be publicly humiliated if he was not able to answer correctly questions concerning the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which he so obviously violated in trying to collect this debt.
So what happened? Well…Tony never showed up for his sentence. The court tried to three times but was never able to get Tony to appear. So they sent cops to Tony’s work. However, the court was again foiled…sort of. Tony’s boss had hidden Tony so that he couldn’t be found and would not divulge his whereabouts. The boss had figured that he had won. WRONG! The court ordered the boss to stand in Tony’s place.
This is what I found truly fascinating. The boss was not able to answer even the most basic questions about the FDCPA. For which a pie was thrown in his face. He was asked if a collection agency could call a consumer at 7 am in the morning. Guess what the boss said? That’s right…he said that they could. That couldn’t be more wrong. That was just one of the questions he couldn’t answer correctly.
So what can we learn from this?
*Stand up to the collection agency. Don’t be afraid. They are usually violating the law any way.
*Record all your conservations with collection agencies. Either in writing or on tape. Have witnesses if you can.
*Know the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
*Be responsible for your debt, even if you only co-signed. And try to work out some sort of real agreement.
So what did the woman do wrong?
*She didn’t seek out real legal representation. If she had she may have countered sued and received a $1000 for every instance that Tony violated the law, plus attorney fees.
*She wasn’t being responsible for the debt. She co-signed but figured it was the boyfriend’s problem and not hers so she ignored it. That is debts deadliest disease. Do Not Ignore the debts because they’ll come back to bite you on the ass.
I hope that this has given you some perspective on debts and helped figure out a way to beat the bill collector. If you need help then feel free to call me for a free consultation at 323-953-0704 or email me at sponduliqs@yahoo.com. I also offer one on one coaching at a very reasonable fee.
When you are in debt and don’t see any options, then what do you do?
Hard questions?
They were for me when I was deeply in debt.
And when you are down what happens? The bill collectors start kicking you. They hound you and your family and even your neighbors. They call you at work. They call your boss. Sure you owe the money. You know that; they know that. It isn’t usually a matter of not WANTING to pay but the inability to pay. Why can’t they see that?
The truth be told, the collection agency doesn’t care. They have heard all the sob stories before. To them, you are just irresponsible and trying to welch on your debts. “Thems” the hard, cold facts.
So how do you beat the bill collector?
First of all, grow a backbone. It surprises me the number of people that get intimidated by collection agencies. The agencies scream “We are gonna sue ya!” and lil ol’consumer shivers like she is Scooby Doo, and then pays up somehow, someway. But if you just grew a backbone and stood your ground you’ll see that all they are is small dog with a very large bark. Hell, 90% of all their threats are just hot air.
On Thanksgiving Day I was watching TV during one of those rare moments when I wasn’t working and I saw one those People’s Court type shows with a twist. I think the show was called an “Eye for and Eye”.
Out comes the judge carrying of all things a baseball bat with “justice” printed on it in block letters.
What makes this show remarkable was the case. Normally I hate these shows because all they are is a bunch of stupid trailer trash yelling at each other saying “he did that; she did that”. Bunk. Shut up, people! Jeesh!
The case in this instance was of a Collection Agency rep named Tony suing some woman that had co-signed on a loan with her ex-boyfriend to get some tires and rims. The boyfriend had defaulted on the loan and skipped town, leaving this woman holding the bag. Of course, she didn’t see it this way. Her idea was that it was the boyfriend’s debt and he should be made to pay it and not her. This created the situation for the suit.
I really enjoyed this episode because it really showcased the collection agency industry and the tactics that they use.
The woman brought a witness that testified that Tony said that the debt could be forgiven if she was willing to sleep with a friend of his. The woman also brought to the case a tape recording of Tony threatening her, telling her that he would ruin her credit for the rest of her life, and on, and on, and on.
Tony won the case (as he should have) but…He didn’t win the way he wanted to win.
The judge ruled in favor of Tony, yes…and the woman was ordered to pay the debt. But judge was smart in this case. He ordered that another collection agency collect the debt, and he ordered Tony to be publicly humiliated if he was not able to answer correctly questions concerning the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which he so obviously violated in trying to collect this debt.
So what happened? Well…Tony never showed up for his sentence. The court tried to three times but was never able to get Tony to appear. So they sent cops to Tony’s work. However, the court was again foiled…sort of. Tony’s boss had hidden Tony so that he couldn’t be found and would not divulge his whereabouts. The boss had figured that he had won. WRONG! The court ordered the boss to stand in Tony’s place.
This is what I found truly fascinating. The boss was not able to answer even the most basic questions about the FDCPA. For which a pie was thrown in his face. He was asked if a collection agency could call a consumer at 7 am in the morning. Guess what the boss said? That’s right…he said that they could. That couldn’t be more wrong. That was just one of the questions he couldn’t answer correctly.
So what can we learn from this?
*Stand up to the collection agency. Don’t be afraid. They are usually violating the law any way.
*Record all your conservations with collection agencies. Either in writing or on tape. Have witnesses if you can.
*Know the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
*Be responsible for your debt, even if you only co-signed. And try to work out some sort of real agreement.
So what did the woman do wrong?
*She didn’t seek out real legal representation. If she had she may have countered sued and received a $1000 for every instance that Tony violated the law, plus attorney fees.
*She wasn’t being responsible for the debt. She co-signed but figured it was the boyfriend’s problem and not hers so she ignored it. That is debts deadliest disease. Do Not Ignore the debts because they’ll come back to bite you on the ass.
I hope that this has given you some perspective on debts and helped figure out a way to beat the bill collector. If you need help then feel free to call me for a free consultation at 323-953-0704 or email me at sponduliqs@yahoo.com. I also offer one on one coaching at a very reasonable fee.
# posted by Sponduliqs @ 10:20 AM 
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