Attention Collectors
I have a client that was harassed by a rather large collection agency today. She is 85 years old, lives strictly off of Social Security, and recently underwent quadruple bypass heart surgery. She was called today and the collection agency told her that if she didn’t pay $500.00 by the end of the day, a sheriff would be out to her home to arrest her. She believed what she was told and and fell to the ground (heart attack).
Currently, she’s in intensive care and we’re not sure if she’s going to pull through.
Attention Rogue Collectors - there is a way to collect debt without violating the FDCPA! I can’t wait to depose this collector if the case goes that far. I get it; if I didn’t know the law and I owed a debt that I decided to ignore due to my financial situation, I would be more likely to pay it if I thought I could be imprisoned for not paying it. But, I just don’t understand how these collectors are able to sleep at night. We as Americans usually spend more time awake at work than we do away from work. To continue to show up at work, it seems that one must be getting some satisfaction from what they are doing. Stop violating the law and stop harassing people. I doubt when these collectors are on their death bed they are going to look back and regret not collecting on one more account. Its likely they are going to look back on their life and wish they treated people with respect, were honest and conducted themselves with dignity.
Again, I am not picking on the collections industry as a whole. The industry is a crucial part of the American Economy! I’m simply shaking my head at the rogue collectors that conduct themselves similarly to the one that put my client in the hospital.
Jeffrey Hyslip
