If you’ve suffered from abusive debt collection practices from a collection agency or “litigation firm,” you were probably the victim of scavenger debt collectors. These companies are created for the simple act of collecting on an old debt that they’ve bought from a creditor or collection agency. While the debt may now fall outside of your state’s statute of limitations and is legally not collectible, they prey on ignorance to extort money anyway. It’s not always easy fighting debt collection agencies, but if you have the right knowledge, you can better protect yourself from ruthless collectors.
Scam Scavenger Debt Collectors
There may have been a time that you received a phone call from a “law firm” that said that they were in the process of filing in court to sue you for a debt that you owe. However, if you engage them in a debt collection negotiation and begin making payments on your debt, they will not sue. This is a pretty scary scenario, right?
Well, the good news is, you actually don’t have to be scared. This person is most likely not an attorney, or even paralegal for that matter. This person is likely a normal employee working for a collection agency who was given a threatening script to conduct abusive debt collection practices. Very often, if you simply conduct a search of the “law firms” name, you’ll find scam reports all over about them.
Why Are They Doing It?
So you’re probably wondering why these scavenger debt collectors are doing it? The reason is simple. After the original creditor tried to collect their debt, yet was unsuccessful in doing so, they charged the debt off as a lost and sold it to a collection agency for pennies on the dollar.
Say for instance, you owed Company A $1,000 and never paid. After being unable to collect, Company A sold the debt to Collection Agency B for $70 and charged it off. Now, Collection Agency B wants to try to collect the $1,000 plus interest. Their desire is to get as much from you as possible, even if it’s not all of it. And they’re willing to break the law to do it.
So what can you do about these scavenger debt collectors? Luckily, you are protected by the Fair Debt Credit Practices Act as well as state laws. So educate yourself on steps you can take to stop them from contacting you to, as well as how to report their activities to the Federal Trade Commission to prevent being victimized by abusive debt collection practices. Your past debt should not make you a victim to abusive practices.
photo credit: Louise Docker