Trying economic times are resulting in more debtors being unable to pay back their loans. This, in turn, leads to debt collectors getting involved and they are starting to fight dirty as they become more and more desperate.
Threats of violence, harassing phone calls, vulgarity, and shake-downs are becoming more common as debt collectors struggle to amass overdue loans that people simply don’t have.
“The American consumer is really hurting and collectors are having to fight harder to get money,” said Robert Andrews, a senior analyst specializing in the debt industry at research firm IBIS World.
The Federal Trade Commission announced that 2009 saw a significant rise in complaints of harassment by debt collectors, mounting by 50% to 67,550. A projected jump of 13% this year is predicted to occur based on the number of complaints recently filed within the last six months. The most common complaint deals with the bombardment of consumers with back-to-back calls, often causing many to switch phone numbers in attempts to escape harassment. Complaints of the use of obscene or abusive language spiked to an overall high of 35% last year, making consumers even less likely to answer the phone.
An anonymous New York native said a collection agent called her home repeatedly, using abusive language and bringing up personal details about her and her husband. Her fears were not without reason, considering that complaints of debt collectors threatening or even resorting to violent tactics more than doubled last year. Under the FTC’s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act passed in 1977, not only are these practices considered stressful and rude, but illegal.
The industry responded by claiming that an increase in complaints of harassment should not be blamed on merely the collecting agents, but also on consumers attempting to live high off the hog by filing frivolous law suits.
“There’s a growing industry of consumer attorneys and savvy consumers who have learned that they can sue a debt collector fairly easily and collect very easily,” said Mark Schiffman, a spokesman for The Association of Credit and Collection Professionals.
It is true that consumers are well within their rights to take a collector to state or federal court for harassment, even if the accusations fall short of reality. If the case proves productive for the debtor, any medical bills or lost income proven to be a direct result of the harassment must be paid by the collector.