I started collecting bad checks for a department store as a Christmas job in 1980. I've owned my own collection agency for nearly 20 years and worked for a credit card bank.
A pretty well rounded set of experiences. I'm one of those guys who's old enough to "have seen it all".
Gotta tell you, I don't like what I'm seeing.
As liquidity becomes tougher and consumers become more calloused in the face of foreclosures, protracted unemployment, and overextension of revolving credit, some collectors are breaking all the rules. Reading the consumer bulletin boards, it seems the smaller the debt, the more egregious the stories.
Have you seen the same detioration of ethics and professionalism I see? Collectors passing themselves off as warrant officers, claiming to be calling from child protective services, extorting money by threatening imprisonment. For a $300 payday loan?
I'm not advocating letting everybody off the hook. You borrow money, you should pay it back. Including interest. Collections is a naturally confrontational business. Good collectors break down barriers, eliminate excuses and negotiate solutions. Its OK to be forceful, determined, rude, intelligent, and pursuasive.
Who controls the conversation? Who can bring compliance with FDCPA, TCPA, and just plain decency? Its the lender. HE controls the inventory. If lenders understand their responsibility to the consumer doesn't end when the account is sold, a lot of the noise being made by the media, consumer groups, AG's, will go away.
If not, then the CFPB will have plenty of work to keep them busy.
What say you?
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