Within the last month, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had cracked down on several abusive and deceptive debt collections practices. In November of 2015, the FTC launched Operation Collection Protection to stop and enforce actions against abusive debt collectors. The coordinated efforts by federal and state governments target collectors who harass consumers with false threats, deceptive information, phony debts and noncompliance with regulations. We want to help educate consumers to identify these types of illegal debt collections practices.
The FTC states that it gets more complaints about debt collections than any other industry. With recent cases announced, Operation Collection Protection has brought 130 actions against abusive debt collectors. This Operation Collection Protection infographic also breaks down the actions of the FTC on deceptive debt collections tactics since 2010 including:
With the FTC attempting to enforce the rules of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and with the number of federal, state and local enforcement assisting, we can only expect to see these numbers go up over the next few years.
We understand the extenuating circumstances might put a consumer at risk for past due debt. With student loans, medical debt, credit cards and other owed payments, it's easy for a consumer to feel overwhelmed and possibly ashamed for the position they are in. Some debt collectors or debt collections agencies take advantage of this weakened state to try to make the customer feel even more helpless. These collectors are also not attempting to build or garner a relationship with you so they may not be concerned with your thoughts about them.
The job of a debt collector is to collect as much past due monies as possible and as quickly as possible.
With that in mind, here are a few illegal debt collections tactics to look out for:
If your account is in collections or you receive a call from a debt collector, the collection agency will most likely follow a process similar to the steps listed below.
Prior to contacting you:
Next steps:
Additional payment options - The debt collector can also work with you to create a payment plan, with the possibility of reduced payments in the event of a financial hardship, to pay off the debt.
See also: What to expect when your debt is in collections
Understanding your rights as a consumer is important in assisting the Federal Trade Commission and other governing entities to take down abusive debt collectors. As a debt collections agency, BYL Collections believes in educating our readers on what to expect in the collections process, We treat people the way we'd want to be treated and we think you should expect that too.