From my experience debt collection today has become a crutch for organizations that are too lazy to do the decent thing and have a discussion with the debtor BEFORE engaging a debt collection agency. Case in point is the debt collection notice I received from a collection agency attempting to collect medical debt that was over a year old and the medical facility has never contacted me by phone or via mail about the debt. Boom - debt collection agency is involved. The debt is not valid and this is the 3rd debt collection agency that has attempted to pursue the same debt. I challenge the validity of the debt and ask that statements or invoices related to the debt be sent so I can verify if the debt actually exists - no response. Yet like clock work every five months this debt is referred to a new debt collector without closure on the challenge I made to the previous debt collector about the validity of the debt. It just keeps churning without resolution. My fear is that ultimately the medical facility will just stop trying to collect the debt and play their ultimate ace-in-the-hole and just make a notation in my credit record about the debt and I will then have to negotiate having the debt removed from my credit record whenever I apply for consumer loan. That is a major shift in power in that all the "protections" I may enjoy in dealing with a debt collector, I have no power with a credit bureau. It a case of either clearing (i.e., pay) the debt or not get a loan. After all is said and done I believe that creditors should have to prove that they have contacted the consumer before they are allowed to refer and debt to collection. The debt collection system is rife with lack of due process in this aspect. Secondly, I believe that if a debt has been referred to collection and the consumer has challenged the validity of the debt, then there is an obligation by the debt collection agency to act on and resolve the challenge. There appears to be no such requirement currently since the same debts are getting rolled over to new collection agencies instead of being resolved. The goal of debt collection should be to resolve contentious debt situations not merely to brow beat the consumer into submission. Third, debt collection agencies need to stop the practice of disguising their collection notifications as junk mail with the intent of hoping the consumer will throw the correspondence away on first glance. Debt collectors in my state routinely use return addresses from Mississippi and no accompanying postmark (using bulk mail designations from the post office just like junk mailings) knowing that if a consumer does not respond within 30 days of notification of a debt then all debt collection protections are essentially waived. We need much more honesty and a level playing field in the debt collection industry. We need a way to ensure that ALL parties involved in debt collection are sensible and forthright and above board. Currently it is a cut throat us vs them scenario which brings out the worst in people.
cmfritts
1
From my experience debt collection today has become a crutch for organizations that are too lazy to do the decent thing and have a discussion with the debtor BEFORE engaging a debt collection agency. Case in point is the debt collection notice I received from a collection agency attempting to collect medical debt that was over a year old and the medical facility has never contacted me by phone or via mail about the debt. Boom - debt collection agency is involved. The debt is not valid and this is the 3rd debt collection agency that has attempted to pursue the same debt. I challenge the validity of the debt and ask that statements or invoices related to the debt be sent so I can verify if the debt actually exists - no response. Yet like clock work every five months this debt is referred to a new debt collector without closure on the challenge I made to the previous debt collector about the validity of the debt. It just keeps churning without resolution. My fear is that ultimately the medical facility will just stop trying to collect the debt and play their ultimate ace-in-the-hole and just make a notation in my credit record about the debt and I will then have to negotiate having the debt removed from my credit record whenever I apply for consumer loan. That is a major shift in power in that all the "protections" I may enjoy in dealing with a debt collector, I have no power with a credit bureau. It a case of either clearing (i.e., pay) the debt or not get a loan. After all is said and done I believe that creditors should have to prove that they have contacted the consumer before they are allowed to refer and debt to collection. The debt collection system is rife with lack of due process in this aspect. Secondly, I believe that if a debt has been referred to collection and the consumer has challenged the validity of the debt, then there is an obligation by the debt collection agency to act on and resolve the challenge. There appears to be no such requirement currently since the same debts are getting rolled over to new collection agencies instead of being resolved. The goal of debt collection should be to resolve contentious debt situations not merely to brow beat the consumer into submission. Third, debt collection agencies need to stop the practice of disguising their collection notifications as junk mail with the intent of hoping the consumer will throw the correspondence away on first glance. Debt collectors in my state routinely use return addresses from Mississippi and no accompanying postmark (using bulk mail designations from the post office just like junk mailings) knowing that if a consumer does not respond within 30 days of notification of a debt then all debt collection protections are essentially waived. We need much more honesty and a level playing field in the debt collection industry. We need a way to ensure that ALL parties involved in debt collection are sensible and forthright and above board. Currently it is a cut throat us vs them scenario which brings out the worst in people.
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