Abusive Debt Collection Practices

Not too long ago I was having a very typical morning; I was reviewing my morning emails from clients and opposing counsel, sorting through the mail and having a meeting with staff and associates regarding our daily work assignments. However, later that morning I stumbled across a blog published by a well-known and heavily circulated debt collection organization, InsideARM. The blog was shockingly titled, "Guns Don’t Kill People, Debt Collectors Kill People?" Intrigued (and always interested in reading up on the industry to find out the new tricks and tips they use to try and deceive consumers) I read on.

The managing editor of the blog, Michael Klozotsky, wrote an entire blog about a recent New York Times article regarding the recent tragic shootings in Connecticut by Omar Thornton. Mr. Klozotsky believes that the debt collection industry was unfairly characterized as having some involvement in the events that led up to the tragic shootings. The editor apparently took offense to the Times reporting that Mr. Thornton had financial difficulties throughout his life and that debt collectors (shockingly) “hounded him for years”. Mr. Klozotsky wrote, “but the article goes on. So the story continues. And it’s one that conveys an unambiguous but nonetheless false message: the debt collection industry is to blame for these senseless deaths”.

Does Mr. Klozotsky honestly think that the New York Times or the American consumers are truly foolish enough to believe that solely due to abuse and harassment by debt collectors, Mr. Thornton decided to shoot his coworkers and eventually himself? I hope not. Perhaps Mr. Kolozotsky should spend more time reading the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act instead of the New York Times. If he did, he would read that when Congress wrote and enacted the FDCPA, it found that: “There is abundant evidence of the use of abusive, decep­tive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors. Abusive debt collection practices contribute to the number of personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs, and to invasions of individual privacy.”

It’s more than evident that Congress, consumer advocates like the Consumer Law Center and certainly consumers nationwide believe that abusive and unlawful debt collection can lead to severe life disruptions such as divorce, bankruptcy and invasions of privacy. I think we all can agree that such earth shattering disruptions can instill an unbearable amount of stress and disaster to one’s life. Yet despite these specific findings by Congress in the 1970’s (I think we would all agree that debt collectors are more abusive and aggressive nowadays), Mr. Klozotsky thinks that debt collectors need a break. Really? The debt collection industry generates a billion dollars a year at the expense of hard working consumers who are trying to make ends meet in a very unstable and unpredictable economy.

Let me be clear: did collection abuse directly lead to the tragic deaths in Connecticut? Of course not! However, does the debt collection industry deserve to be cut some slack? Absolutely not!