Attack of the Zombie Debt Collectors

Some years ago while visiting my husband’s then newly widowed and elderly mother, we were moved to intervene on her behalf after some jerks claiming to be collectors for delinquent student loans went on a rampage of gross harassment against her because someone much younger had her same first and last name. They were calling her so often and being so verbally abusive that she changed her phone number, which she’d had for more than 20 years and which all her distant friends and relatives knew by heart. They were sending threatening letters – sometimes 3 a week – telling her they were going to ruin her credit and attach her wages.

After hubby calmly informed them they had the wrong person – do your homework, don’t call, stop writing and there were no wages to attach (she retired long ago) – Mother-in-Law got a call from her banker telling her they were now trying to attach her bank account! Hubby put a stop to that right quick by showing the many threatening extortion letters to that banker right there in his office, explaining the situation, and getting some good advice. Call the state Attorney General immediately, follow up with a formal letter detailing the illegal tactics, and if worst comes to worst, get a lawyer.

Now, I know it sounds weird that a woman who graduated from college in 1947 could be so thoroughly confused with the ~30-something single mother who was actually in arrears on her student loan payments, or that a sweet old lady could be so horribly abused by professional con artists/thugs. But the truth (as best we could figure) was that they figured they could brow-beat Mom into paying someone else’s debts just because she was old and living alone and had some money in the bank.

Luckily we had gone to high school with the AG and he was more than willing to go after these crooks wearing size 1000 pointy cowboy boots. The harassment ended in short order, and Mom now knows to simply let her contact with his debt/fraud task force know whenever she gets targeted in some scam. The shame is that there are so darned many scams out there targeting people like her, and once you get on one scammer’s list (even if they end up in jail), you’ll be sold to every other scammer in the con-club fleecing little old ladies out of their meager life’s savings.

So when I saw CNNMoney’s article entitled Debt collectors on the rampage, I figured it might be a good idea to document a bit about your rights if you happen to end up on the scam list. This article has a list of rights and procedures as well as a run-down on ways that third party collectors violate the rules. Those rules are detailed in the FDIC’s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and explained in some detail through the links at fair-debt-collection.com.

Even if you really do owe the debt, the collectors are required to abide by rules. For instance, they cannot call you before or after certain times of day, must stop calling if you tell them not to call, and may not demand any payments on debts for which your state’s statute of limitations has expired [a.k.a. "Zombie Debt"]. If you find yourself in a situation of unethical or illegal harassment the best thing you can do is educate yourself about this law and its provisions, and know what steps you can take to defend yourself.

If there’s anything unethical shysters are legitimately frightened of, it’s a mark (target) who knows his/her rights and isn’t reluctant to assert them.

Links:

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
CNN: Debt collectors on the rampage
Debt collectors calling? Know your rights
Fair Debt Helpers [attorneys]

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