debt collectors
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Credit Forum Index ]
Posted by lawguy
(216.30.212.58) on April 08, 2003 at 16:14:20:
After reading the posts below from the bill collector, I thought a bit about this entire "industry." The industry exists because people don't pay their bills on time. If there were no "deadbeats," there would be no collectors, and Mr. Bill Collector would be out of work. The last thing they want is for people to pay on time. Collectors make money on "bad debts," not on good debts. Bill collector said that if the laws tighten, then there woudl be more lawsuits. That would be a good thing, in my opinion. (Not because I'm a lawyer.) What we have now are creditors waiting years to collect a debt. Why? Why would they wait 4, 5, or 6 years and THEN try to collect a debt? Why sell it to a collection agency? Why not just sue after 180 days? Because its more profitable to do it this way. First, filing lawsuits is not cheap, even if getting a default judgment. At minimum it would cost $500 to $1000 in attorneys fees to get a default judgment. Then you have to actually collect on the judgment, if thats even possible. Even more attorneys fees. Thats why most creditors won't sue on anything under $2000. Second, all those interests and penalties don't accrue on a judgment. Late fees, overlimit fees, 20+% interest, those amazing unseen fees that turn a $1000 debt into a $5000 debt after 3 years. That doesn't happen when you sue and win on a debt. Prejudgment interest is usually 5 or 6%; post-judgment interest is usually 10 or 12%. Its just easier to pay someone to make repeated calls and to yell at somebody on the phone; to threaten jail time (most debtors don't realize that you can't go to jail for simply not paying a debt, certain exceptions excluded); to threaten public humiliation. "Say whatever it takes to get the money." When a bad debt is collected on, it usually means that far more than the original principal plus a reasonable interest rate is recovered, especially if the debt is a few years old. That doesn't happen with a lawsuit and judgment, and thats why creditors and collectors avoid them except for large debts. I looked at some of the websites of these collection agencies. Laughable indeed. Offices located in malls (because of the short term leases no doubt). That faux professional look and feel. As if being a telephone operator who yells at people is the same as an investment banker or engineer. I don't know, I just get the same feel from these people as I do from a self-important manager at a fast food restaurant. The "I run this McDonalds; go wash the bathroom so I don't have to" persona. I guess I'm rambling, without the eloquence of Mr. Soze. Its just the way this industry, and Mr. Bill Colector in particular, try to personify themselves. I know that attornies aren't the most popular people out there, but we do contribute to society, law and order and justice and all that All debt collectors do is distribute money from the poor into their own pockets. And usually its money they have no right to in the first place...
Follow Ups:
Post a Followup
|
