Being a former debt collector I can say a few things here:
Blatant disregard of the FDCPA is a fineable offense that ends up with not only the company collecting able to be sued, but the individual collectors.
If you are:
-Receiving calls outside of the hours of 8AM-9PM (and that's YOUR local time, not the call center's)
-Getting another call within 24 hours of telling someone not to call back (you have to say it yourself over the phone, not someone else or an answering machine)
-Getting multiple messages left by the SAME collector in a 24 hour period
-Or the collector tells someone other than you, your spouse, or a co-signer (w/ the exception of the Carolina's, spouses aren't allowed to know in those states) about the debt
-Or when you are on the phone with them the message (given either by a rep or automated system) "I must inform you that this is an attempt to collect a debt, and all information obtained will be used for that purpose"
You can sue for the annulment of the debt plus extra.
The are people who abuse these laws however to sue themselves out of their debt, leaving many companies no other option but to take a kamikaze position and get as much cash as possible before someone sues them for the tiniest loophole, which leads to super aggressive collectors having to meet as high a goal as possible.
And as someone who talked to these debtors, I was not the asshole type, it's not in my nature, and that's why I never did as well as some of the hardcore collectors, but to be honest, I have heard every damn excuse about why people can't repay the debt that they incurred, and its jaded me. Example:"I'm on social security" "How long?" "7 years" "You got this card 2 years ago, ran it up to its $3000 limit and never made one payment, all the while aware you were on social security, and agreed to make payments on the card regardless of that fact" "..." And yes, that was a VERY common occurence.
There are also the cases of people coming over here from other countries, opening multiple lines of credit, and after they run em all up, run back to their countries. These are called plastic millionaires. And no, you are not required to have a social to open up a line of credit, you can use a taxpayer ID number (like greencard folks have) and run crap up to your heart's content. Lots of people from the middle east do this (based on statistics, not stereotypes).
The bastards that were the worst, the ones putting their kids on the phone: (What sounds like a 4 yr old girl)"Hewo?" "Hi there, is your mommie home?" "Nooo..." "How bout your daddy?" "No..." "Brother or sister?" "No..." "A babysitter?" "No..." "Honey are you home by yourself?" "No..." "Well who's there with you?" "My mommy..." "Can I talk to her?" "She said if I let you talk to her she'll beat me again..." I promptly called their local CPS and police, with the recorded conversation. I get a call an hour later "You asshole! They're taking away my daughter!!" "Well now that I have you on the phone, lets talk about the $8000 you owe me!" (in my head "You scummy bitch!") That's the crap that we had to deal with.
Honestly, I don't miss it, but I'm grateful for the experience because if I ever get a call from a collector I know how to cover my ass.
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