Free Republic

To the surprise of many students and parents, public colleges in every state except Louisiana use for-profit debt collection agencies to recover overdue tuition, library fees and even parking ticket fines. Many universities add late fees to students' bills, and when debt collectors add another 40 percent, students can end up owing thousands of dollars more than they did originally. In some states, the law requires public colleges to use collection agencies if debts go unpaid for too long. Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, sends overdue accounts to private debt collection companies after about six months, according to...

A study released by the Urban Institute on Tuesday found that more than 35 percent of Americans have unpaid bills and debt that has been reported to collection agencies.The debts surveyed include everything from gym memberships to auto loans. The study, which looked at records from September 2013, found that 35.1 percent of people with credit records had been reported to collection agencies. The average debt was $5,178.The Associated Press notes that while America has decreased its credit card debt, the percentage of Americans in collections has remained roughly the same. In 2004, a Federal Reserve study found that 36.5...

An estimated 1 in 3 adults with a credit history -- or 77 million people -- are so far behind on some of their debt payments that their account has been put "in collections."

A campaign for collecting overdue utility payments has started in a Russian city of Yekaterinburg. A city dweller having 4-years long overdue bills was chosen as a guinea pig for an experiment in using a sewage-blocking system "Sproot" ("Octopus"). That person had been holding out for 5 days before he gave in and paid all his debt, the city's utility company's "Oblcommunenergo" PR department said. This action for collecting 235 000 roubles debt ($7580) started on October, 14. The sewage tube to the apartment No 52, Old Boshevicks Street was blocked with that device. They also planned to block sewage...

To the dismay of consumer groups and the discomfort of Democrats, President Barack Obama wants Congress to make it easier for private debt collectors to call the cellphones of consumers delinquent on student loans and other billions owed the federal government. The change "is expected to provide substantial increases in collections, particularly as an increasing share of households no longer have landlines and rely instead on cellphones," the administration wrote recently. The little-noticed recommendation would apply only to cases in which money is owed the government, and is tucked into the mammoth $3 trillion deficit-reduction plan the president submitted to...

A federal SWAT operation kicked down the doors of Kenneth Wright’s home in a 6 A.M. raid because his wife, who no longer lives at the residence, failed to repay her student loan. Wright, who had been sleeping, was dragged out of the house in his underwear, thrown face down on the front lawn and held at gunpoint. His three children were not harmed. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan defended the harsh tactics. “Too many people are defaulting on their student loans,” Duncan pointed out. “The old system of pursuing collections through the courts may have been the only alternative...

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...

Have you ever received a dunning call from a bill collector? If you have lost your job or faced an unexpected financial crisis, you may find yourself making difficult choices. When funds are limited, most people will choose to scrape together the cash to pay the mortgage, the car payment, or the IRS and take their chances with credit card collectors. As credit card default rates rise, however, credit card lenders have become far less gracious or forgiving when it comes to dealing with late payments. These unsecured lenders also know that recovery rates are significantly higher for newly delinquent...

Scammers masquerading as debt collectors and law enforcement officials have terrified consumers with threatening phone calls and bilked them out of thousands of dollars, officials with the West Virginia Attorney General's Office say. Prosecutors said that the scammers, who speak with heavy foreign accents, are known for repeatedly calling people at home and at work and threatening them with arrest if they don't repay supposed debts -- debts that, according to West Virginia officials, don't actually exist. The scammers operate under names such as U.S. National Bank, Federal Investigation Bureau and United Legal Processing, said West Virginia Assistant Attorney General...

With all the recent news stories of debt collectors landing in prison or being taken out of business for illegal and strong arm tactics, I thought i'd share with my fellow Freepers a great resource to help if you ever have to deal with a scumbag debt collector. http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs27-debtcoll.htm This link has resources to use if dealing with collection agencies/collectors, your rights, links to the FTC, sample letters and more. I hope this is helpful to some Freepers who've been hounded rightly or wrongly by this pretty much unregulated billion dollar a year industry.