professionally, how many different people do you think you contact regarding each collection? we have found that most, as you put it "big national guys" will contact anyone and everyone with a similar name living in an area where skip tracing has revealed the consumer may have lived.
i refer to this as payee phishing. the number of vulnerable people (ie. elderly, naive, financially stressed, etc) bullied into paying a debt that is not theirs is higher than decent people in the industry are willing to admit. how many people really understand how to use "validation" when given the chance? how many people will pay something to stop the constant telephone calls? how many consumers can read and understand the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act with enough acumen to advocate for themselves?
look, i understand entirely the industry "mythology" by debt collection being an ancient business and vital to the business world. but lets be real. what advantage does a business have selling for pennies a distressed debt or recovering 20%-25% (my guess) of the original debt?
I can not tell you how many times I've had a collection agency call my home looking for someone with the same name as my husband who used to live in a state we've never even visited.
Probably 50% of the time we're called liars or worse, hung up on, placed on auto-dialers etc until they finally give up.
If it doesn't stop, I'm making my husband change him name to:
Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero
Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus
Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff
(Guinness longest name record holder)
Betcha I won't get calls after that!!!!
We don't buy or sell debt. Firstly, because we don't have the resources to fork out $150,000US for $500,000 face-value debt and, secondly, because you're dealing with 'brokers' who pick and choose who gets what.
Many of the national firms have problems because of poor training, compensation schemes, and poor management.
Today's debtors are more astute and know most of the ins and outs of collection practices. Since we deal solely in small debts (i.e., less than $5,000 and our portfolio is split 60/40 consumer/commercial), volume is an issue. We rely on automated tools, repetitive contacts and simple letters to get across the point that 1)money is owed; 2)disputes have been resolved; 3)please contact us to resolve the debt in a manner you can afford.
As for debtor 'phishing', it's stupid to waste resources calling all the John Smiths listed in a regional phone directory when you can access a subscription database and locate current address/telno for the debtor using an SSAN or prior address info with about 80% success in about 30 seconds.
Failing to follow the FDCPA and reporting laws is stupid, deserves to be punished, and gives all of us a bad name.