Have you been receiving pre-recorded messages or automated phone calls to your cellphone from debt collectors? It seems you’re not the only one. Last month, USCB Inc., a receivable and resource management company, agreed to a $2.75 million settlement that will be paid out to roughly 12,000 consumers in order to resolve a Telephone Consumer Protection…
Study Shows Many Choosing to Pay Off Debts While Sacrificing Needed Health Care to Save Money A recent study conducted by sociologists at the University of Michigan found that people who are ill and do not seek treatment because of the cost are more likely to have credit card debt than any other form of…
Federal regulators are widening an investigation into whether the nation’s biggest banks used flawed documents and incomplete records to collect on delinquent credit card debts, according to four people familiar with the probe. The scope of the inquiry is unclear, but those familiar with it say the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is…
On February 20th, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced victory, at least temporarily, in halting unauthorized credit card transactions involving thousands of consumers. The scammers charged credit cards for non-existent goods and services totaling more than $25 million, targeting financially vulnerable consumers who had at some point prior to the transaction, applied for a pay…
Debt collector horror stories abound: There are threats to dig up the dead relatives of those who couldn’t pay their funeral bills, promises to imprison debtors or take their children into custody — even warnings that pets will be killed. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, collectors are prohibited from threatening violence, using profane…
Online scams are nothing new to internet users, but the next person you friend on Facebook may be no friend at all. It may be a debt collector using the access you grant them for a variety of undesirable or unlawful purposes such as posting defaming information on your wall to shame you into paying…
According to a recent article by the Washington Post, American households struggling with debt collection have a new ally in their fight to stay out of legal trouble with debt-collection firms: the United States government. Next year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will begin monitoring the practices of these collection bureaus and will start cracking…
Do you have debt? How do you stop collection calls? Craig Thor Kimmel explains debt collection practices (FDCPA) and other laws people should know. Click Here to Watch the Interview: Debt Collection by Ebru Today
The same problems that plagued the foreclosure process — and prompted a multibillion-dollar settlement with big banks — are now emerging in the debt collection practices of credit card companies. As they work through a glut of bad loans, companies like American Express, Citigroup and Discover Financial are going to court to recoup their money….
Debt collectors have been known to use various techniques to secure payment, some of which violated the Fair Debt Collection practices act (FDPCA). This can include pestering debtors, their friends, relatives and co-workers with calls at inappropriate times and places. In other cases, debt collections for debts of the dead, can rise from the grave…
