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Posts Tagged ‘collection agency letter’

From 1999 to 2009, premium costs for family insurance have risen by one hundred and thirty one percent. That’s easily over three times the rate at which working wages rose during this time. In this period of economic hardship, millions of jobs have been lost, putting workers who have just lost their jobs at risk of living without health insurance also. For those who remain employed, employers are pushing more of the costs of health insurance onto their employees as they struggle with economic uncertainty. Then there are blue collar and retail workers, waitresses and the like who are paid less, work harder and are not offered health insurance plans at their jobs. No wonder that Americans are struggling to pay their medical bills.

When does a collections agent over the phone cross over the line into harassment? Collection agencies are restricted from utilizing obscene language or threats of violence. However, they are allowed to insult your integrity and make you feel bad about the person you are.

Anecdotal stories about collectors asserting that a debt cannot be negotiated, settled or paid off more slowly have been circulated. Collectors have been known to rudely ask when a debtor is going to pay, and then reject a debtors offer as not enough. This is not true or acceptable, as a consumer you always have the ability to negotiate.

It is true that Americans with overdue debts will typically be subject to a number of retributions. Collection letters, phone calls, unfavorable credit scores and a chance to wind up in court are examples of punishments for non-compliance.

However, a new trend that is growing is debtors suing debt collectors first. Any violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act can be valid reason alone to take a collector to court. It might be true that in a declining economy suing a debt collection agency instead of paying off what you owe may be your only choice. There were 8,347 consumer lawsuits filed against collection companies in 2009. That’s a 55 percent increase over 2009 and double that number filed in 2007.

Beginning November First of 2009, financial institutions and other creditors were told to comply with the Red Flag provisions of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. The purpose of the Red Flag rules is to prevent and alleviate identity theft. Identity theft might be defined as any fraud involving people getting particular benefits by pretending to be someone else.

Broad in scope, the Red Flag rules definition of financial institutions is any organization engaged in insurance, banking, or similar activities, and a good amount of the definitions come with leeway to expand compliance demands. Any consumer account involving multiple payments or transactions that is offered to organizations can be subject to the rules.