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The calls won't stop. The threats are getting worse.
"We're going to sue you!"
"We're going to have you arrested at work!"
"You're gonna lose your (pick one) job,
home, family."
Last week, they even called your neighbors.
Last night, you couldn't stop crying.
For millions of Americans, that's what everyday life is like at the hands of
tele-terrorist debt collectors. Have you ever gotten behind on your
bills?
If you answered "no" ... you're in the minority.
If you answered "yes," you've obviously worked in the media for
awhile.
The issue isn't how people get into debt.
The real question is "how much abuse should any
financially-challenged consumer ever have to put up with from debt
collector?" The answer's easy.
None.
What makes debt collectors cross the line?
Money. Their sole incentive is to do whatever it takes to collect the cash. And
no wonder ... there's alotta cash to be made.
The collection business is a $13 billion industry - and it's getting
bigger every single minute of every single day. What's fueling the growth? A
river of delinquent accounts from a credit card industry that continues to make
increasingly reckless lending decisions.
It's no revelation that Americans carry absurd amounts of personal debt. This
is a fact that preceded the events (and economic aftermath of ) September 11th.
But it's often unforeseen events - such as job loss, health problems,
catastrophic accidents ... or loss of a spouse to death (or divorce) - that
sends Average Janes-and-Joes into a (downward) financial spiral.
Life happens.
And when it does, consumers have few alternatives. Most simply roll over and
take the emotional beating from relentless and heartless debt collectors.
Or they can "strap on the grenades" and go to war with simple,
easy-to-follow survival strategies from the nation's #1 giant-killing debt
collector harassment expert, award-winning journalist Benjamin Dover.
A popular newspaper columnist (The
Dallas Morning News), television
correspondent (WFAA-TV/Channel
8 in Dallas), and seasoned radio talk
show host (on
talk powerhouse KFI in Los Angeles),
Dover's ability to entertain and inform has earned the trust of producers,
program directors and most importantly - viewers/listeners/readers from
coast-to-coast.
Benjamin Dover's been there and survived the debt collection hell that
torments an estimated 100 million American consumers every year. Dover answers
those agonizing questions that keep your audience awake every night:
Can debt collectors call anytime, day or night?
Can they call you on weekends or holidays?
Can they call you at work?
Can they (legally) call your neighbors, friends or relatives?
Why do you think Consumer
Credit Counseling Service has
suckered in an entire nation (and especially the media) one of the
biggest lies ever?
Can debt collectors really sue you? Can they garnish your paychecks or bank
accounts?
Can they have you arrested?
Can they have your children taken away from you?
Can they get custody awarded to an adversarial (and non-custodial) parent?
Can you really fire a debt collector with one letter?
Can you really fire an attorney with the same letter?
Why are these non-profit debt counseling services a horrible idea?
Why do you think debt re-negotiation companies are an even worse idea?
Is bankruptcy ever a good idea?
What about planning for bankruptcy? Immoral? Unethical?
Get your Dose of Dover! Book Benjamin Dover right now,
on-line! From 3-minute
morning drive drops all the way to hour-long
call-ins, from phoners
to "in-studio"quality
ISDN (or Comrex) connections...satellite
interviews...whatever it takes. Your
audience deserves a Dose of (Benjamin) Dover.
Don't believe they can really be as bad as we're
claiming? No problem...read about their antics,
dirty-dealings and record-setting fines for yourself.....
ONE OF COUNTRY'S LARGEST DEBT COLLECTORS AGREES TO PAY RECORD $1 MILLION
CIVIL PENALTY TO SETTLE CHARGES OF VIOLATING FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT:
Settlement Includes
Comprehensive Consumer Complaint Handling, Employee Training
Nationwide Credit, Inc., of Atlanta, Georgia, has agreed to pay a $1 million
civil penalty as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission to
resolve allegations that the company violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices
Act (FDCPA). The $1 million civil penalty is the largest ever in a debt
collection case. According to the FTC... [Read
the complete story here.]
JUDGE FREEZES ASSETS OF COLLECTION AGENCY THAT ILLEGALLY THREATENED CONSUMERS
WITH ARREST, CRIMINAL PROSECUTION
Since 1995, Check Investors Inc. of Secaucus used intimidation to collect at
least $10.2 million from about 42,100 people - many of whom did not even owe any
money... [Read
the complete story here.]
DEBT COLLECTION AGENCY AGREES TO SETTLE FTC CHARGES THAT IT VIOLATED FAIR
DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT: Payco American Corporation agrees to pay
$500,000 Civil Penalty
Payco American Corporation (Payco) has agreed to pay a $500,000 civil penalty
to settle Federal Trade Commission
allegations that it violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
by illegally revealing consumer debts to third
parties, using obscene or abusive language, and falsely threatening arrest,
garnishment of wages, or other legal action
against consumers from whom it was attempting to collect debts for clients...[Read
the entire story here.]
PERIMETER CREDIT AGREES TO PAY $300,000 CIVIL PENALTY TO SETTLE
CHARGES OF VIOLATING FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT
Account Portfolios, Inc. (API), and a subsidiary, Perimeter Credit, L.L.C.,
have agreed to pay $300,000 civil penalty as part of a settlement with the
Federal Trade Commission to resolve allegations that they violated the Fair Debt
Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) when attempting to collect delinquent health
spa accounts they had purchased from Bally's Health and Tennis Corporation.
According to the FTC, Perimeter's debt collectors harassed consumers, made false
and misleading representations, failed to send required validation notices,
failed to verify debts when requested to do so by consumers, and made
impermissible third party contacts regarding consumers' debts. [Read
the entire story here...]
DEBTORS, BEWARE: Not all credit-counseling agencies honest
In the world of television commercials, switching toothpaste brands will
improve your love life. Gourmet dog food will transform your cantankerous mutt
into an obedient show dog. And with just a phone call, you can free yourself
from a mountain of crushing debt. Real life is much more complicated,
particularly where your finances are concerned. Getting out of debt is hard. And
if you sign up with an unscrupulous credit-counseling agency, your problems
could get worse. [Read
the entire USA Today story here...]
NORTH AMERICAN CAPITAL CORP. AGREES TO PAY $250,000 CIVIL PENALTY TO SETTLE
CHARGES OF VIOLATING FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT
North American Capital Corporation (NACC) has agreed to pay a $250,000 civil
penalty as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission to resolve
allegations that it violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) when
attempting to collect delinquent consumer credit accounts. According to the FTC,
the company's debt collectors made impermissible third party contacts regarding
consumers' debts, such as to the consumers' employers and co-workers; harassed
consumers by using obscene or profane language; and made false and misleading
representations, such as that the consumers' wages would be garnished and their
property seized. [Read
the entire story here.]
HOUSTON-BASED DEBT COLLECTOR AGREES TO PAY $240,000 TO SETTLE CHARGES OF
VIOLATING FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT: First
FDCPA Enforcement Action Specifically Protecting Spanish-Language Consumers
Houston, Texas-based United Recovery Systems, Inc. (URS) has agreed to pay a
$240,000 civil penalty as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission
to resolve allegations that the company violated the Fair Debt Collection
Practices Act (FDCPA). This is the FTC's first enforcement action against a debt
collection company for allegedly violating the rights of Spanish-speaking
consumers.
According to the FTC's complaint, on numerous occasions, in connection with
the collection of debts in both English and Spanish, the company's debt
collectors communicated with consumers at improper times or places, engaged in
prohibited communications with third parties, harassed and abused consumers, and
used deceptive practices to collect consumer accounts. [Read
the entire story here.]
(You don't think a lawyer would lie, do you?
CALIFORNIA LAW FIRM AGREES TO SETTLE FTC CHARGES OF VIOLATING FAIR DEBT
COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT
Alvin R. Lundgren, principal of Lundgren & Associates, P.C., has agreed
to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that he repeatedly violated the Fair
Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Section 5 of the Federal Trade
Commission Act when attempting to collect debts by threatening to take legal
action when none was intended and by misrepresenting the amount he was entitled
to collect under state law. (Read
the entire story here...)
DEBT-COUNSELING GROUPS ANGLE FOR CHECKS & BALANCES
In recent years, there has been an upsurge in complaints about
debt-counseling services. Some consumers say the agencies don't disclose fees,
cause late fees to pile up because they don't make payments to creditors in a
timely manner or don't make payments at all. [Read
the entire USA Today story here...]
CREDIT COUNSELING IN CRISIS, Part I: Why Consumers Are Being Duped By
So-Called Non-Profits"
Overburdened with indebtedness, consumers who seek help from the new
generation of credit counseling agencies are putting their trust in a largely
unregulated industry rife with the potential for worsening, not improving,
consumers' indebtedness problems.
Too often, under-funded credit counseling agencies offer improper advice,
deceptive practices, excessive fees and abuse of their non-profit status... [Read
the entire story here.]
CREDIT COUNSELING IN CRISIS, Part II: The Impact on Consumers of Funding
Cuts, Higher Fees and Aggressive New Market Entrants
Read this eye-opening "white paper," the first ever such study of
credit counseling agencies... [Read
the entire study here.]
FIRST USA TO HALT VENDORS' DECEPTIVE SOLICITATIONS: Agreement Extends
Protections to Cover Millions of Credit Card Holders
Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today announced a settlement that will provide
new protections against misleading telemarketing campaigns for more than 53
million credit card holders. First USA Bank N.A. - the largest issuer of Visa
credit cards - and also known as Bank One Delaware NA, has agreed to implement
broad reforms in its relationships with third-party vendors to ensure that
non-deceptive marketing campaigns are used in soliciting the bank's credit card
holders. Specifically, under the agreement, First USA must prohibit vendors from
engaging in deceptive solicitations. (Read
the entire story here...)
THE LITTLE GUY FIGHTS BACK: Woman Sues A Debt Collector (and WINS!) Over
Their Petty Pursuit Of An Illegitimate 18 Cent Debt!
This is a terrific story about a woman that pursued the bad
guys as hard as they pursue-and-abuse the masses on a daily basis; covered
this on the KFI/Los Angeles radio show in Fall 2002 and received a huge response
from listeners that had similar horror-stories.
(Read
the entire story here...)
A MEDICAL BILL HORROR STORY THAT'S HAPPENING EVERY DAY IN AMERICA: Six
days of uninsured emergency hospital care: $108,000
A situation that was exacerbated by the lies of one of America's most
notorious (and eventually, fined) collection agencies. From
USA Today: Read the entire story here...
AMERICAN SENIORS RACK UP DEBT LIKE NEVER BEFORE...and are easy targets for
unscrupulous tele-terrorists
Once known for their thrift, older Americans are piling on debt - filing for
bankruptcy in record numbers and jeopardizing retirement dreams. From
USA Today: Read the entire story here...
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Attention RADIO SHOW HOST & PRODUCERS:
Wanna have a little fun when you have Ben on your station? Here's some
pre-produced bumpers/rejoins that you're welcome to download and use with Ben.
Give 'em a listen:
Quick "BenDover"
bumpers:
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