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Debt Collectors Will Soon Be Allowed To Reach You By Text Or On Facebook (cbsnews.com) 92

Posted by BeauHD from the our-worst-nightmare-realized dept.
The federal government has cleared the way for collection agencies to send unlimited texts, emails and even instant messages to debtors on social media platforms. CBS News reports: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final rule late last week outlining how collectors can use new communication methods. The federal agency, which is charged with protecting Americans from financial abuse, did not limit the number of messages collectors could send, but it did require that each message come with instructions on how to opt out. The bureau also limited the number of times collectors may call someone to seven calls per week for each debt.

Consumer advocates criticized the rule for not requiring alleged debtors to consent before being contacted by email or text, and for setting a limit on phone contact that could result in a flood of calls for people who owe money to several creditors. Jay Gonsalves, president of Action Collection Agencies in Boston, called the rule a "win-win."

"We're hearing more and more from consumers that they don't want to talk to us on the phone. Nobody does anymore. Everyone communicates with text," said Gonsalves, formerly president of the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals, the collection industry's trade group. While consumers may not appreciate hearing about what they owe, Gonsalves added that keeping a debtor in the dark could hurt them in the long term. The rule will formally take effect one year after it's published in the Federal Register, or near the end of 2021.
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Debt Collectors Will Soon Be Allowed To Reach You By Text Or On Facebook More

Debt Collectors Will Soon Be Allowed To Reach You By Text Or On Facebook

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  • More and More (Score:5, Funny)

    by nuckfuts ( 690967 ) on Friday November 06, 2020 @05:59PM (#60693254)

    We're hearing more and more from consumers that they don't want to talk to us on the phone... said ... president of the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals.

    Hard to believe!

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by sconeu ( 64226 )

      They don't want to talk to you via text, or on FB either.

      • They don't want to talk to you via text, or on FB either.

        One way to avoid talking to debt collectors is to pay your bills.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          One way to avoid talking to debt collectors is to pay your bills.

          If only that was true, but debt collectors don't care. They don't do any research at all - as long as your name possibly matches a debt they bought, you're guilty.

          So you can be contacted for someone's debt - either because you shared the phone number with someone who owed themoney, or you share a name with them.

          You have to remember this is a volume game - they more people they can force to pay up, the more profit they make. It's why they often

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by taustin ( 171655 )

            So you can be contacted for someone's debt - either because you shared the phone number with someone who owed themoney, or you share a name with them.

            Which is already illegal. Changing a law they ignore now won't change anything.

            But once they've broken the law - and all debt collectors do all the time, they're not an annoyance so much as an outlet for all your frustration. You can vent on them, you can say, or threaten, anything and there's nothing they can do about it without identifying their own criminal asses to the authorities, and they know it.

        • Spoken like a man whos never had a debt collector harrass them day and night for an invalid debt.

          I literally had a guy turning up at my house threatening violence due to money the previous tenant owed and this stupid company decided the "debt passed on to the new tenant". Ended up having to take the fucker to the small claims tribunal (here in australia) to make him go away.

          I found out a few years later that the regulators shut the fuckers down for that kind of tactic. But the point stands, these debt colle

    • It's true! I don't know about you, but I call my debt collectors often and implore them to find new ways to contact me regarding my outstanding debts. I'm dying to hear about how much money I owe, as long as it's not via a phone. ;-)

      In all seriousness, this might be a great incentive for people to get off of social media and their phones. Not that it will solve their debt problems but, ignorance is bliss.

  • I don't think so (Score:5, Insightful)

    by AndyKron ( 937105 ) on Friday November 06, 2020 @06:00PM (#60693258)
    This is a government that works for the people? I don't think so.

    • Depends who you ask...

    • It's works for some people. Just not us.

      • It works for the corporations that finance elected official's campaigns. It'll never change until American's change how campaigns are financed and change the laws that govern lobbyists through state level ballot initiatives.
      • It's a big club, and you ain't in it.

    • This is a government that works for the people?
      I don't think so.

      depends on who you define as people. the proles obviosly don't count anymore.

        must mean only homo economicus with mega millions in the bank account

    • Let's be clear: this was an action by a part of the current administration, led by a political appointee.

  • We're hearing more and more from consumers that they don't want to talk to us on the phone. Nobody does anymore. Everyone communicates with text.

    This may come as a surprise, but they don't want you to text either.

  • in the next 2 1/2 months. It's going to take years to undo the damage done. And in the meantime Mitch McConnell will be trying to do more damage so clueless voters will hand him back Congress in 2022 and the Whitehouse in 2022.

    Meanwhile we're the ones that will suffer. The Dems don't look like they'll take the Senate, so kiss any stimulus goodbye. If you needed it, or if you needed extra help right now, sorry. But 68 million Americans just said "no". And if you're one of those 68 million that needs help

  • Blocking and number changing works quite well... (Score:5, Informative)

    by mc4bbs ( 940842 ) on Friday November 06, 2020 @06:13PM (#60693302) Homepage
    I hate to tell those collectors that facebook an texting is easily blocked. In addition, under The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (the law that sets rules for third-party collection agencies) gives the debtor the right to request that debt collectors stop calling/contacting you. However, for your request to be legal, you have to make it in writing. You can send what's known as a "cease and desist letter" to stop debt collectors from calling you. As many mobile phone plans CHARGE for texts, there is also DAMAGES which can be presented before the court when you sue their asses. Here's one of MANY templates online for free: https://www.thebalance.com/cea... [thebalance.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by taustin ( 171655 )

      That only works if you have an address to send it to. Mostly, they won't give you a mailing address (which is also illegal), and the texts will come from fake caller ID, and the Facebook messages will come from throwaway accounts.

      Debt collectors are all crooks.

  • History of cavalier dishonesty and error (Score:4, Interesting)

    by dsgrntlxmply ( 610492 ) on Friday November 06, 2020 @06:16PM (#60693318)
    This is the same industry that, when I lived in a multifamily development, would phone ME from a cross reference directory asking me to stick notes on my deadbeat neighbors' doors. The same industry that uses cross-reference databases to phone me past the do-not-call list to engage them to work with them for a fee on some escheat that may or may not have anything to do with me. Working from credit databases that have hilariously shown me as working for some urban mass transit system.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by taustin ( 171655 )

      "I'll be sure to tell them they you owe them $1,000 for the Fair Debt Collections Act violation of telling a third part you're trying to collect a debt, and offer to testify for them if they decide to sue you."

  • Have you ever been on one of these lists? (Score:3)

    by Arethan ( 223197 ) on Friday November 06, 2020 @06:16PM (#60693320) Journal

    "We're hearing more and more from consumers that they don't want to talk to us on the phone. Nobody does anymore. Everyone communicates with text"

    Get your head out of your ass, dude. It's not that they would rather you text them. It's that constantly hounding them is fucking annoying and doesn't magically manifest new wealth within their bank account.

  • Ever since they became free, everyone and their mother is sending text messages if they know your phone number. Don't most people ignore them just like the emails now?

  • no thanks (Score:3)

    by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Friday November 06, 2020 @06:29PM (#60693374) Homepage Journal

    I won't respond to anyone I do not know asking me for money when they contact me through text or online. At the most, I will take their information and look it up and contact their business either directly or through an attorney.

  • This is really not ok to just unleash on people without doing a little bit of actual tech work to validate the messages as being from real debt collectors..

    Really any halfwit scammer can start harassing people about their Verizon Bill in the Amount of $54.23 and eventually find a person who owes roughly that. and Boom people are handing over CC information.

    Really I want to see some sort of "Verified Bill Collector" animation scrolling along the top of my phone when I get a text or call from one.. And a nice way to click in and verify exactly who they say they are, and what Debt they are collecting on.

    This was ok in the days of landlines, but FFS we're in the 2020's now.

    • Unlikely.

      A verizon bill for a single person is likely at least $80. Couples, expect at least $120. I'd suggest going for $124.73.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Friday November 06, 2020 @06:43PM (#60693404)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • When my oldest was a baby, we got one of those threatening letters from the pediatricians billing agency on the very first bill. I send a VERY nasty letter back by mail since we were not late in any way and had never been late. I also mailed a copy of the whole thing to the pediatrician's office.

      They immediately dropped that billing service and apologized to me at our next appointment.

  • After the first one, they'll get blocked like everybody else.

  • how much the Senator from MBNA hopefully not about to become the President from MBNA had to dowith this.

  • A lot of collection agencies sometimes resort to tactics that I can only describe as emotional bullying when dealing with people on the phone.

    If they employ the same mechanisms on text messages or Facebook as they do when talking to someone on the phone, they are going to end up in a whole shitpile of trouble, because there will be a paper trail that shows just of how they treat the debtor, and just how unprofessional their conduct can actually get.

  • Block all messages which contain stupid opt-out instructions. There's no way tech companies won't continue to offer better filtering options to help block messages by keywords. This is a non-issue for debtors but allows technology companies to bill these scumbags per-message for all the spam they send. I'm happy to let the scumbags preying on the poor subsidise all the free services... that a lot of poor people use!

  • Two sides to the issue (Score:3)

    by schwit1 ( 797399 ) on Friday November 06, 2020 @07:48PM (#60693608)

    "Consumer advocates criticized the rule for not requiring alleged debtors to consent before being contacted by email or text"

    It was probably agreed to when the debt was incurred, in the fine print.

    Debt collectors should be required to clearly state debt details in all communications and should be prohibited from engaging relatives, friends & neighbors to aid in the debt collection.

    That aside. If a debtor fails to pay then those costs get passed on to the rest of us.

    • It was probably agreed to when the debt was incurred, in the fine print.

      And if the alleged debtor turns out not to be the actual debtor, and thus never signed any fine print...?

      I have no issue with debt collectors contacting people by phone, text, email, Facebook Messenger, or whatever else so long as they clearly identify themselves up front with the exact caller ID / email / screen name / etc. that appears in their business license. Any debt collector using a false identity to get past someone's automated screening is committing fraud and should have their license revoked upo

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by taustin ( 171655 )

        Beyond that, we already have sophisticated systems for dealing with unwanted communications which we can apply to obnoxious debt collectors just as easily as spammers.

        You say that like there's a difference between them.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by taustin ( 171655 )

      Debt collectors should be required to clearly state debt details in all communications and should be prohibited from engaging relatives, friends & neighbors to aid in the debt collection.

      They are. [ftc.gov]

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Their purpose is to nag you until you give in.

      Then they'll die trying cuz homey don't play dat way. I love nagging; it invigorates me and in return I'll do my best to ruin their day.

      Some scumbag creditors chased *me* for a small debt my mother had when she died. Those fools spent way, way, way more time and money fucking around with me on the phone than the bill was worth. I wasn't responsible for it and I was happy to tell them to blow me every time they called.

  • As if we needed another reason to criticize the likes of Dorsey and Fuckerturd.

  • Social Credit (Score:4, Interesting)

    by cas2000 ( 148703 ) on Friday November 06, 2020 @08:54PM (#60693798)

    China's social credit score is almost redundant if you can just be harassed into "voluntarily" cancelling your phone, email, social media and other services just to avoid the bombardment of spam.

    Unlimited texts and emails is harassment. Seven phone calls/week is harassment.

    Sure, Social Credit may have more reach and wider application, but being effectively turned into a non-person will still ruin your life. Try getting a job or renting a house without a phone or email address or facebook account - not having all of these automatically marks you as suspicious and untrustworthy in the minds of potential employers, landlords, etc (who already demand your account names if not your login details).

    Also, debt collectors are scum, and this will happen not only to people who owe debts they can't pay but also to people with similar names, to people whose identities have been stolen (and debts falsely incurred in their name), to people who had a debt but paid it (or discharged it through bankruptcy), to people whose names and contact details accidentally got onto robodebt databases, and to friends, families, neighbours, co-workers etc of alleged debtors.

  • Too much information and too much fucking control.

  • I don't think that any kind of constant harassment should be legal.

  • Private debt collection should not exist (Score:3)

    by bradley13 ( 1118935 ) on Saturday November 07, 2020 @02:47AM (#60694402) Homepage

    I had the "fun" of being targeted by one such business, when I was cleaning up my mother's affairs. I don't know how they got her name and address - they were after someone else - but they flat-out refused to believe that I did not know the person they were after. These businesses basically engage in extortion: pay us or we will make your life hell.

    These businesses not exist.

    If someone owes you money, and refuses to pay? Take them to court and get a judgement. Let the court enforce the judgement - they have all sorts of tools, including wage garnishment. Selling debts to private companies with scummy business practices should not be an option.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by taustin ( 171655 )

      These businesses basically engage in extortion: pay us or we will make your life hell.

      That's a two way street, and there's nothing they can do about it when you scream obscenities, or threats, back at them. They don't dare report it to the cops, because they'll have to identify themselves to do so, and when the cops get the whole story, you won't be the one in trouble. And they know it.

  • I'll continue to get harassed over the person who used to have this phone number prior to 2016 because the collection agencies refuse to believe I am not who they want and accuse me of dodging them.
  • 1. As it was mentioned as a known problem there doesn't seem to be any kind of check or information that had to be provided in text and email to prove that a collection message ia real or could be verified to reduce spam collections its even in the interest of real debt collectors to have this as people will just totally ignore them thinking its spam at some point. 2. Does this negate the requirement not reveal this is a collection attempt to 3rd parties? I know lots of bottom feeder collectors don't foll

  • Oh boy. Phishers will take advantage of this too. :( I'm going to block and ignore all even if legit. They need to prove it.

  • This can encourage people into phishing. How effective can this method be in terms of debt collection? https://pamsbizstartuppixie.wo... [wordpress.com]

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