(1888PressRelease)
April 20, 2006 - Austin, Texas…Aggressive debt collectors continue to flaunt the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the law that applies to third party debt collectors, according to www.StopDebtCollectorsCold.com, a website designed to help consumers deal with their debt collection problems. The web site was established by John Ventura, a consumer law attorney, author, and Director of the Texas Consumer Complaint Center at the University of the University of Houston Law School; Gerri Detweiler, a nationally-known credit expert and author; and Mary Reed, an expert on consumer legal matters and an author. “Debt collectors are pressuring consumers with tactics that are often illegal,” says Ventura, “and consumers need to know their rights so they can fight back.”
According to a brand new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report, problems with debt collectors are on the rise. The report says that in 2005, the number of complaints the FTC received about third party debt collectors increased 14% over the previous year. (The report notes that this increase is probably understated since most consumers do not contact the FTC about their debt collector problems.) The report indicates that consumers who complained to the FTC about debt collectors in 2005 most often complained about debt collectors who:
• Demanded more money than they were legally entitled to collect. In 2005, this was the #1 type of consumer debt collector complaint.
• Called them “repeatedly or continuously” about their debts; used profanity, obscene or other types of abusive language; or called them before 8AM or after 9PM, or at other times that the collectors knew were inconvenient.
• Threatened consumers with dire consequences if they did not pay what the debt collectors said they owed, or made false or misleading threats to consumers about what would happen if they did not pay their past due debts -- criminal prosecution, jail time, job loss, loss of property, etc.
• Placed calls to consumers’ places of employment when the debt collectors knew or had reason to know that the consumers’ employers did not want them receiving calls from debt collectors at work.
• Told third parties, including employers, friends, children, and neighbors, about the consumers’ debts.
• Did not mail the consumers legally- required written notices. Among other things, the notices must indicate the amount of money the consumers supposedly owe and to whom they owe it, and the noticed must inform consumers that they are entitled to dispute the debts in writing within 30 days of first being contacted by the debt collectors.
• Failed to verify disputed debts. When consumers dispute a debt in writing within the required 30-day time period, debt collectors must cease their collection efforts until they provide the consumers with written proof of their debts.
• Continued to contact consumers after the consumers had provided the debt collectors with written cease communication notices or after they had told the debt collectors that they did not intend to pay the money the debt collectors were trying to collect.
StopDebtCollectorsCold • www.StopDebtCollectorsCold.com
These kinds of problems sound all too familiar to John Ventura. He says, “I’ve worked with many consumers who were victimized by out-of-control collectors. Although most debt collectors abide by the law, based on my experience as a consumer law attorney and with the StopDebtCollectorsCold web site, there are a growing number who will do just about anything to collect debts from consumers because the more debts they collect, the more money the debt collectors make. The best defense consumers have against these kinds of debt collectors is to become informed about their federal debt collection rights.”
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