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FTC Releases Study On Debt Buyers

Michael Agruss

Written and Reviewed by Michael Agruss

  • Managing Partner and Personal Injury Lawyer at Mike Agruss Law.
  • Over 20 years of experience in Personal Injury.
  • Over 8000+ consumer rights cases settled.
  • Graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law: Juris Doctor, 2004.

FTC Releases Study On Debt Buyers

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recently released its study on debt buyers; the FTC looked at the debt collection industry because it spurrs far more complaints than any other industry. The FTC’s research scrutinized data on debt buyers, examining more than 5,000 debt portfolios with almost 90 million consumer accounts—the overall face value of these accounts is $143 billion.Annually, debt buyers try to collect about one million debts that consumers assert they don’t owe; the FTC said of this finding, “proper handling of this large number of disputed debts is a significant consumer protection concern.” The FTC’s study looked at nine of the country’s largest debt buyers; the majority of the debts being pursued originated as unpaid credit card charges. Debts created from mortgages, medical bills, utility bills, telecommunication charges and other creditors were also reviewed. A pattern emerged with the debt sellers (the original owners, not the collection agencies): they refused to guarantee the accuracy of information around the debts, selling the debt “as is and with all faults.”The FTC has another “major concern,” the behavior and business practices employed by collection agencies—some threaten to sue and do file suit on debts that are time-barred. Three separate federal laws protect consumers from invasive and unethical debt collectors: the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The FTC has begun steps to enforce all three more stringently in 2013.If a collection agency has harassed you, you may be entitled to money damages up to $1,000.00, based on the FDCPA, which has been around for almost 35 years. The FDCPA is a federal law that applies to every state. In other words, everyone is protected by the FDCPA. The FDCPA is essentially a laundry list of what debt collectors can and cannot do while collecting a debt, as well as things debt collectors must do while collecting a debt. Plus, the FDCPA has a fee-shift provision. This means, the collection agency pays your attorney’s fees and costs. Founding attorney, Michael Agruss, has settled over 1,500 debt collection harassment cases. We want to help you, too.

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