Posted on 03/07/2009 1:07:43 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Debt collectors are dunning the dead, seeking payment from deceased debtors or their next-of-kin by using sophisticated databases that scan probate court records and other information sources as a way to bolster revenues in depressing economic times, according to news reports.
The New York Times is reporting that though many banks may need a bailout and some homeowners can't make their mortgage payments, the departed are definitely paying down their part of the debt.
Post-mortem harassment is the latest trend in debt collecting, and one of the thriving parts of the reviled industry.
In Minneapolis, Minn., teams of debt agents labor on the third floor of DCM Services, are dialing up the departed dear ones' next of kin and thoughtfully asking if they want to settle the balance on a credit card or bank loan or make one last utility bill or mobile phone payment.
Generally, the living have no legal obligation to assume the debt of a spouse, sibling or parent, although laws vary by state.
“I am out of work now, to be honest with you, and money is very tight for us,” one man declared on a recent phone call after he was apprised of his late mother-in-law’s $280 credit card bill, and which he promised to pay $15 a month, the paper reported.
New collectors train for three weeks in empathic, active listening skills, which merges the comforting air of a funeral director with the nonjudgmental tones of a liberal social worker.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Sure it makes sense. All that remains is the moral obligation to repay what was borrowed. The law does not set our morals. Can you imagine Ted Kennedy, Barney Frank, John Conyers or Obama telling us what is moral?
I’m not sure how your father’s estate was handled, but bills should have been submitted to the estate, unless you were taking care of the whole thing. While legitimate debts should be handled before distribution to the heirs, the whole ‘collections and harassment’ thingy is just an example of how uncivil our culture has become. Merely submitting the bill should have been sufficient.
Sorry for your loss.
Debt collectors are low-life scum not worthy of life. These scum-sucking leeches have harassed me for years, trying to collect a debt from a person with my name. They engage in harassment and violate numerous federal and state laws.
I’m preparing a lawsuit against these crooks. I can’t find an attorney who will take the case because these shysters work with the scum-sucker collection agencies.
I hate filing civil lawsuits - it’s a big time consuming process.
OMG, these #$@# got to be worse than the regular telemarketers EVER were. I finally started picking up the phone and telling them to TAKE ME OFF YOUR CALL LIST. I don't get nearly as many calls now, but I still get them. I still cringe every time the phone rings, but at least it doesn't ring as often now.
What really grinds my ass is that occasionally I will get calls from solicitors even though I'm on the DNC list, and when I try to call back, they've used a SPOOF number on the caller ID. I called my Congressman's office, who of course told me there's no law against it.
As much as I hate to say it, I think they should just change the law to prevent solicitation of any residential phone, period.
When that did not work, despite being put on the 'no call list', we just quit answering.
Merely submitting the bill should have been sufficient.
I assumes that it was understood the estate was taking care of it. Wife was executor. A Fraudulent claim was not paid.
The estate attorney took care of it.
Um, that’s the law. Probate estates pay exempt assets to the family, then taxes and expense of administration, then the just debts of the deceased (the executor publishes notice and reviews all claims first), and anything left over goes to the heirs. When did this become bad all of a sudden?
Ever hear of probate? Every state has laws specifically designed to settle estates in a fair and orderly manner, precisely so this kind of crap doesn't need to happen. Probate has been so demonized that apparently folks have forgotten why it exists in the first place. A probate proceeding gives the creditors of the decedent one last bite at the apple, and if they don't take it they can "forever hold their peace" - and in an insolvent estate, probate works almost like a bankruptcy, forcing creditors to settle for pennies on the dollar. We are apparently becoming so uncivilized that we can't even use the perfectly good laws we have.
Disregard #30. I see they were contacting the heirs directly. That is low. I stand corrected.
Good one!
Most people never have a probate estate when they die. If property is held jointly, it simply passes to the survivor by operation of law. These collection agencies are calling the spouse, children, and other close relatives of the deceased demanding payment even if the deceased left no estate. I have first hand knowledge of this happening.
My problem is these people would never stop calling, ever. Like "The Terminator", it's what they do - it's all they do. The calling is automated so that a machine calls your number over and over and over (daily, not every five minutes) until it gets a live person. It can even discriminate whether it gets an answering machine or a live person.
I left a NASTY message on my machine until I figured out that it was being delivered to a machine. So you can not answer, but you still get five or six calls a day, all hang ups. I'm not a patient man - this tended to provoke me to violence, except the object of my rage is unavailable to express my unhappiness. That's when I started picking up the phone and telling them to leave me ALONE. That's worked fairly well, except that new charities still get my number and call, so I have to put a stop to them as well every now and then.
Fortunately, due to dementia, wifey and I have managed the financial end of things for a half dozen years, so it'd be tough for a scammer to penetrate our zone.
I can sure see situations where an out-of-town relative trying to figure out a relative's affairs could get nailed.
“I see debt people.”
HAHAHAHAHAAA! Good one.
Yeah, the estate is supposed to pay off all outstantding bills before the heirs get their cut. IIRC when I settled my mother’s estate, I had to put an announcement in a local paper and anyone with any previously unknown claims had a certain amount of time (I cant remember how long it was) to make them.
(I cant remember how long it was) to make them.
In Illinois I think it’s 6 months.
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