Posted on 04/26/2010 3:49:38 PM PDT by jerry557
Among debt collectors, Steven Katz is known as a “credit terrorist.” For years, he has run what he calls the Steven Katz School of Bill Collector Education, otherwise known as the “credit terrorist training camp.”
Mr. Katz, a 58-year-old accountant in suburban Tucson, spends his free time schooling debtors on the finer points of consumer protection law to help them turn the tables on debt collectors. On occasion, he thumbs his own nose at them too.
“How many times can I sue you? Let me count the ways,” he wrote under his pseudonym, Dr. Tax, in a March posting on Inside ARM, a debt collectors’ Web site.
A former bill collector himself, Mr. Katz rebelled after a debt buyer damaged his credit score with what he says was a bogus bill. Mr. Katz sued, and in 2003 he collected his first damage award, a $1,000 check that he now keeps framed behind his desk.
“The bill collectors, when they call, make you feel like the only option you have is to lay down and play dead. That’s not true,” said Mr. Katz said, who does not charge for his advice. “Nothing validates this more than getting a check.”
Call this movement revenge of the (alleged) deadbeats. Even as collectors try to recoup debts from millions of Americans struggling to pay their bills, a small but growing number of lawyers and consumers are fighting back against what they describe as harassment, unscrupulous practices — and, most important to their litigiousness, violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
In fact, 8,287 federal lawsuits were filed citing violations of the act in 2009, a 60 percent rise over the previous year, according to WebRecon, a site that tracks collection-related litigation and the most litigious consumers and lawyers on behalf of debt collectors.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Y’all have convinced me to change my estimate. 99% guaranteed to keep the bill collectors from bothering you.
It’s not just that cut and dried.
Several years ago my family was in a big auto accident. We had to stay out of state for few months.
We had auto AND health insurance. We gave everything to the hospital, followed up on what we were supposed to, etc.
After a month weeks my kids got home and called me - that afternoon, the letter carrier came by with THREE LIENS from an out of state court.
See my post #21.
Public employee unions should be banned. They are major players in the coming bankruptcy of governments at all levels.
Right.
I owe around 2k to the government from fines that they’ve assessed over the past 7 years or so. I don’t see why I should pay for any of them.
I have a choice, paying my rent or paying the bogus fines. Government is big enough already.
Well, no...why don't we see how much you know? What is your position on 10 day violations and SOL violations? BK violations?
What portions of the FDCPA do you consider to be unreasonable?
I've been in the mortgage industry for years. My niche is helping folks understand their credit and make it better.
I understand the FDCPA, which is more than I can say about the folks collection agencies hire.
I can't remember the last time I was involved with a collection agency or a repository, and they actually followed the law.
Why is that?
According to the online translator:
“credito”: to believe, trust, commit, trust in, rely on
Destruction of trust is of course a major objective of the Marxists.
Schoolyard behavior, anotherwords? Billy got a Schwinn bicycle for Christmas so I’m gonna steal me a Huffy or Veronica’s dad bought her a Mustang so I’m going to steal her IPod while I’m at her slumber party...
“It’s not just that cut and dried.”
I totally agree. I do mortgage lending and see everything. But most people with liens and collections owe them.
People in your situation are entirely different. In fact if I ever were in political office; I would seek to go after the sleazy collectors that go after people unjustly.
I have seen a few situations that I got really angry about where good people were unjustly harassed.
When we first moved to our current house and had our phone turned on, we received phone calls 7 days a week from 7:00 in the morning until 10:00 at night from several bill collectors for various people. A couple stopped calling after we explained we just obtained the number, however, we still continued to have problems from the majority. I started recording our calls, and one particular collector informed me that he was sure that “Emma” was there and I was hiding her. This was at 10:00 at night. I gladly turned the recording over to the Attorney General’s office, along with the certified receipts for, and copies of the cease and desist letters sent to all these firms. Unfortunately, our AG never followed up, but that has always left a bad taste in my mouth as far as collectors go.
Someone put me down once for a reference on a car loan (a REFERENCE, not a co-sign!). And I guess that person, who I hadnt even talked to for years, defaulted on the loan.
That loan company started calling and harrassing me about it! I guess the person who took out the loan moved and changed their phone number and they were convinced I knew how to get in contact with them. And they were brutal. They even left voicemails pretending to be someone else.
Finally I had enough and started screaming at the guy to put his supervisor on. And I YELLED at him that if he ever calls me again I will sue him and his company for everything they have. And I banged the phone down.
They finally stopped calling.
.
If someone gets a phone call or a letter from a collection agency they are in unfamiliar territory. It's what the agencies do for a living, and they have no excuse for not doing it right.
I deal with them-often-for folks who demonstrably owe no debt. The agencies are rude, arrogant, and lawbreaking.
As I said, you don't have to owe anything. You just have to become a target of attention, for whatever reason. Some deadbeat have a similar name? Used to live at your address? Used to have your phone number? Some minimum wage employee create a typo on SS# and enter yours instead?
Good luck with that.
I deal with it often. Until you do, PLEASE don't tell me whether it's a problem or not.
It has been said that the Knights Templar were the first bankers, because their word was their bond and they could be trusted to make good their letters of credit. The very first checks, I suppose.
Of course with all that goodwill and trust there was a demand for their services. With that came political power, and the monarchs of Europe couldn’t stand the competition.
King Philip IV of France put them out of business. He owed them a lot of money.
History does repeat itself.
.....Why are Yahoo! and the New York Times consistently on the side of the “little guy”......
Because it makes their readers feel good.
They can read the paper and think they did something.
most states have notice requirements when a new collection agency buys the debt (for 3-7 CENTS per dollar) if you dispute and demand verification they have to prove within 30 days or cease all actions.
the absolute worst are the ones OUTSIDE THE STATUE OF LIMITATIONS . they want you to pay ANYTHING in order to reboot the statute of limitations.
Define SOL, BK (assuming bankruptcy) and FDCPA?
I fought a bill collector who pushed us for an already paid doctor bill...and bills from when my wife’s identity was stolen by the Russian Mob....
I am sympathetic, but most of the time, you owe them money.
You are correct in that assumption, the issus of government hacking at your wallet is nutty.
You're the one who posted to me first. But I shan't bother you anymore.
I got another phone line five years ago. I bet I got one hundred calls or more for a woman named Elsa. The calls were from bill collectors, banks and even individuals. It was the individuals that got to me. Many times they would be crying. The woman was a disaster. Finally I got some credit card calls from a correctional facility. I figured they finally nailed her and she was in prison.
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