My colleague Dale Irwin has written a great article in the Kansas City Star regarding the utterly ridiculous state of affairs in the debt collection industry these days. What Dale is so incensed about is something that I’ve seen hundreds of times over the years as a debt collector abuse attorney here in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. And that is debtors demanding payment for debts, when little evidence shows that the debt exists in the first place.
Let me explain…
Debt buyers have a habit of purchasing credit card debt, and at pennies on the dollar. So they may pay $60 for a $1500 credit card debt. They do this because they find it’s easy money to go after people with debt, and demand full payment. They’ll even go so far as to sue a person in court in order to get their hands on the payment.
The problem is that these debt buyers often purchase debts that don’t exist. They also purchase debts with little or no supporting evidence and they don’t bother to verify these debts before filing suit. In other words, it’s highly possible that you or a loved one will get sued for debt that is not yours.
That is exactly what happened to my friend Dale Irwin’s client, an older widow who does not understand that the current state of the debt collection industry is woefully under-regulated. She was sued for $1500 for debt on a credit card she never applied for. Despite her telling the debt collectors that she have never had the card in the first place, they sued her for the full amount.
If it wasn’t for a smart friend who got in touch with a local TV reporter, she could have lost her good credit, which could lead to higher payments on a mortgage, getting denied for loans for a car, or getting refused when wanting to open an equity line of credit.
The problem is that these debt collectors will mislead the judges with deceptive evidence that looks like a credit card statement but isn’t.
Have you personally suffered from an abusive debt collector attempting to collect a debt that you had nothing to do with? It’s more common than you would expect. If you find yourself stuck with debt that you did not earn, and the debt collector is being abusive, you may be entitled to compensation for your troubles that could be quite significant.
Give my St. Louis debt collection abuse law firm Healey Law a call at (314) 401-3261, and I will personally see to it that your rights are fully protected under the law, and that you receive all damages and financial compensation to which you are entitled.
