Debt collection “horror stories”

AOL has a disturbing interactive feature, detailing what AOL describes as “true stories” of illegal debt collection tactics and intimidation that were experienced by actual AOL users. Here are a couple of the most egregious descriptions:

“We had an unpaid bill because of a dispute in our retail business. Our sales rep doubled our order and then went on maternity leave, and [the company] said the only person who could fix it was her! A bill collector from Texas called over and over and I attempted to explain (the situation) to him … The day before Thanksgiving he called and my daughter answered the phone — she was 7 years old at the time. He said to her, ‘Because of your daddy you are not going to be able to live in your house anymore and won’t be able to have Thanksgiving there with your family, it is your Daddy’s fault!’”

“This company still calls my husband’s work after receiving three written notices not to. Their representative also called our neighbors in her goal to embarrass us! They were calling my home up to eight times a day and hanging up on me, after I told them my husband wouldn’t be home before 6:00 p.m. The problem? There’s no way to stop them. They feel they are above the law and know there aren’t any attorneys who will waste their time suing them.”

“A collection  company used city official names and paperwork to look as if I was being taken to court. However, when I called, the court knew nothing of the paperwork or of any lawsuit against me. It seems that the collection agency wanted me to panic at the sight of the papers and call the phone number provided on the ‘official-looking papers.’ Then they could  terrify me and demand payment.”

Most of the experiences described in the feature are violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or FDCPA. If you live in Minnesota and have experienced these, or similar, illegal debt collection tactics, please contact me for a free case evaluation.

(via Consumer Law & Policy Blog)