They say that collecting debt in January is very difficult. Well, "they" ought to try collecting bad debt in January. It is just near impossible.
So, after successfully collecting one debt on Thursday, I felt pretty good. And, the surprising thing was the manner in which I collected the debt.
This was a watershed day for me. I actually got a client to pay off a Stale without any undue harassment. And, I didn't even violate the FDCPA in the collection of the debt.
Last week I placed a call to a woman I will call Leandra. It was a standard and civil call. It was the first call I had placed to her on a debt that just came to my office the week before Christmas. I had also sent her a collection letter that complied with the FDCPA. Leandra's debt had just gone past the 7-year mark that was the applicable Statute of Limitations in her state. The debt was for $1,430.
So, Leandra called me and she was a little upset because she thought the debt was no longer valid since it was 7 years old. It would not be unusual for me to lie to the debtor in a situation like this and say, "actually the Statute of Limitations in your state is 10 years," or "actually because ____________, this debt can remain on your credit report for 15 years," or "well, I am looking at your 3-Bureau Report right now, and it is on all three reports." But I guess my conscience told me to just be civil to Leandra.
And shockingly enough, the civil approach worked. I explained to Leandra that the Statute of Limitations had expired, and if this account had not already been removed from her credit report, it would be removed shortly. But I explained, that the debt was still a valid debt, and that the expiration of the Statute will not stop people like Anonymous from pursuing collection activities on the account.
She was surprised by this, but she said she understood what I was saying. I said to Leandra, "now ma'am, I'm not sure what your financial situation is like right now, but if you were willing to pay $250 today, I will consider this account Paid in Full." We discussed the matter for a few minutes, and ultimately, Leandra agreed to pay $200 today, and I agreed to mark the account Paid in Full.
Unfortunately, I fibbed a little at the end of the conversation with Leandra, when I told her that I would go ahead and mark the account PIF today even though the check would not post until tomorrow. And, that I would be sure to send a PIF letter before leaving the Anonymous Office on Friday. I said this all the while knowing it wasn't true. That I wouldn't mark the account PIF until the check posted, and the odds of me sending a PIF letter Friday afternoon were nil.
I left Anonymous last night thinking, I may have turned a corner. It felt good to collect a debt in an ethical manner. And, I even felt a little bad about lying about the PIF letter.
I went to sleep Thursday night with the intention of continuing ethical collection activity on Friday.
Unfortunately, the ethical collection activity didn't even make it to my first piss break on Friday morning....
So, after successfully collecting one debt on Thursday, I felt pretty good. And, the surprising thing was the manner in which I collected the debt.
This was a watershed day for me. I actually got a client to pay off a Stale without any undue harassment. And, I didn't even violate the FDCPA in the collection of the debt.
Last week I placed a call to a woman I will call Leandra. It was a standard and civil call. It was the first call I had placed to her on a debt that just came to my office the week before Christmas. I had also sent her a collection letter that complied with the FDCPA. Leandra's debt had just gone past the 7-year mark that was the applicable Statute of Limitations in her state. The debt was for $1,430.
So, Leandra called me and she was a little upset because she thought the debt was no longer valid since it was 7 years old. It would not be unusual for me to lie to the debtor in a situation like this and say, "actually the Statute of Limitations in your state is 10 years," or "actually because ____________, this debt can remain on your credit report for 15 years," or "well, I am looking at your 3-Bureau Report right now, and it is on all three reports." But I guess my conscience told me to just be civil to Leandra.
And shockingly enough, the civil approach worked. I explained to Leandra that the Statute of Limitations had expired, and if this account had not already been removed from her credit report, it would be removed shortly. But I explained, that the debt was still a valid debt, and that the expiration of the Statute will not stop people like Anonymous from pursuing collection activities on the account.
She was surprised by this, but she said she understood what I was saying. I said to Leandra, "now ma'am, I'm not sure what your financial situation is like right now, but if you were willing to pay $250 today, I will consider this account Paid in Full." We discussed the matter for a few minutes, and ultimately, Leandra agreed to pay $200 today, and I agreed to mark the account Paid in Full.
Unfortunately, I fibbed a little at the end of the conversation with Leandra, when I told her that I would go ahead and mark the account PIF today even though the check would not post until tomorrow. And, that I would be sure to send a PIF letter before leaving the Anonymous Office on Friday. I said this all the while knowing it wasn't true. That I wouldn't mark the account PIF until the check posted, and the odds of me sending a PIF letter Friday afternoon were nil.
I left Anonymous last night thinking, I may have turned a corner. It felt good to collect a debt in an ethical manner. And, I even felt a little bad about lying about the PIF letter.
I went to sleep Thursday night with the intention of continuing ethical collection activity on Friday.
Unfortunately, the ethical collection activity didn't even make it to my first piss break on Friday morning....
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