Debt collectors can't quit getting lawsuits and grievances from FTC

Though a lot of the damage is self-inflicted, few industries are as maligned as the debt collection industry. A growing number of suits are being filed by the FTC and the bureau keeps receiving complaints about debt collectors from consumers. Resource for this article: Debt collector complaints surge along with FTC lawsuits

Increasingly more fed suits

Collectors do not have a simple job, trying to get individuals to pay debt they incurred and can’t pay. Several debt collection firms and employees are as honest and honorable as anyone in any other profession, but the number of bad apples in the trade has been giving the market a bad name.

Fewer people complain about online payday advance lenders than they do about collectors.

The Federal Trade Commission, according to USA Today, has been increas-ing its efforts in holding debt collectors accountable to the laws that govern how they can do business. Though suits against collection agencies are often left to the states, FTC suits brought against collectors are reaching an all-time high. The FTC has done 10 suits against agencies in just the last three years. There were only six in the three years previous to that.

More and more complaints

Debt collector complaints were filed in 2008. The FTC got 104,766 of them. In 2010, as reported by ABC, there were 144,159 grievances. The only thing consumers complained to the FTC about more than collectors was identity theft.

Individuals hate continuous calling. That is what is reported probably the most, as reported by CBS. It is recognized as harassment if a collector calls various times through-out a day while individuals have to give permission if a collector is going to call before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. In all, 46.5 percent of grievances in 2010 were about violating these rules.

Other common grievances incorporated attempting to collect more cash than was owed, calling the indebted party at work, reveal-ing debts to employers or relatives, making threats and not providing any written notice of a debt or try to collect it. USA Today reports that some threats even involved physical violence. This involved 4,182 complaints.

Know the rules

The Federal Trade Commission’s site has all of your rights in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act listed on it. Do not allow everyone to abuse you in their actions. If there are enough complaints about a single company, the FTC will file a complaint even though it won’t do so for one person, as reported by CBS.

Customer grievances about debt collectors should be submitted jointly with the Federal Trade Commission and your state Attorney General’s office, as there could be a state action which could be brought.

Citations

USA Today

ABC

CBS

USA Today

FTC Fair Debt Collection Practices webpage