Posted on 04/20/2017 10:21:48 AM PDT by posterchild
The Internal Revenue Service is about to start using four private debt-collection companies to chase down overdue payments from hundreds of thousands of people who owe money to the federal government, a job it has handled in house for years.
Unlike I.R.S. agents, who are not usually allowed to call delinquent taxpayers by telephone, the outside debt-collection agencies will have free rein to do so. Consumer watchdogs are fearful that some of the nation’s most vulnerable taxpayers will be harassed and that criminals will take advantage of the system by phoning people and impersonating I.R.S. collectors.
Additionally, one of the four companies that the I.R.S. has hired, Pioneer Credit Recovery, a subsidiary of Navient, was effectively fired two years ago by the Education Department from its contract to collect delinquent debt for misleading borrowers about their loans at what the department called “unacceptably high rates.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Who owes the IRS? Interesting if true. Read whole article:
And the answer isssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss politicians?
Well here is a good deal if you owe the irs money.
I don’t answer the phone unless I know who it is. Robo calls seem to go in cycles. I can go a week or so without them, then get a few a day for a while. It hasn’t been bad enough to limit incoming calls to favorites or all contacts. I just tap the power button to mute the call. If it is important they will leave a message.
Obviously, do the best you can to stay out of debt. However, if you should get into debt, never, ever, ever deal with debt collectors. If a debt collector should buy your debt, and actually sues you, file a simple answer to the lawsuit — you can find the forms online — and wait to see if the debt collector takes it past that point. (NEVER ignore an actual lawsuit, or the plaintiff may get a default judgment against you and drain your bank account, garnish your wages, etc.) If you file an answer and the debt collector does get a court date, THEN retain a lawyer. Let your LAWYER negotiate a settlement, and make sure the lawyer stipulates that the debt is not re-aged. (It's now illegal to re-age debt, meaning to restart the statute of limitations on debts after payments begin again, but it happens all the time. So be sure to press the issue with your lawyer before you agree to any settlement)
Repeat: individuals NEVER should talk to debt collectors.
The only time I answer a call from an unknown caller is if I am reasonably certain it is a scam then I answer and immediately hang up so I don’t have to waste time cleaning out voicemail.
The Robo calls I get rarely leave a message. Had an IRS scammer with a foreign accent leave one. I do get automatic calls for the previous owner. Calls like school closings and weekly church info. I’ve blocked those calls and clean out that voicemail every few months. It doesn’t intermingle with my regular voice mail.
I used to have the exact same name as a local bad-check writer. Man, that was a PITA from time to time when she’d go on a spending binge!
P.S. She was a State worker!
You really think they wouldn't put Al Sharpton on a do not call list?
Giving IRS debts to private collectors will be another faitlure. There is no one who can locate and collect as effectively as the IRS. Oregon did this with some state collections, and it cost more to manage than the actual receipts.
The Obama Admin first ?
I have CPR call blocker. I have 157 blocked numbers so far.
The number shows up on my TV but they do not get through.
I need to clear it out as this list is 3 years old.
The easy part is it just takes a push on one button and that number will never connect again. I love that thing.
For the calls that make it, they are connected to an old style digital ans. machine. I do not keep messages in the “cloud”.
I didn’t really want to get rid of the landline, but it didn’t make sense to keep it any longer from a cost standpoint. I pretty much have the hang of blocking. Verizon gives me 5 hard blocks that last for 90 days. Permanent blocks cost money, but haven’t had to resort to that. Blocking with the Iphone covers about 98% of my blocking needs.
I see. It sounded as though you had a landline.
I have to keep mine for conference calls.
I hate cell phones and have my company cell blue-toothed to my land-line and vehicles.
I held off as long as I could. Almost everyone I know is cellphone only now..
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