3 ms·

Unfortunately US 'aggressive debt collectors' can leverage legal loop holes and corrupt officials to take your possessions by force. The 2008 housing repossess

Unfortunately US 'aggressive debt collectors' can leverage legal loop holes and corrupt officials to take your possessions by force. The 2008 housing repossession stats from lenders such as wells fargo are a good example. in some cases they were repoing houses that had no late payment or mortgage issues whatsoever.

onetimemanytime 8y ago
They are aggressive only when they smell blood. Ignore them and you can settle for 20%. They probably bought the debt for 5% so they are still ahead. "Ignore them" is also easier said than done since they will ruing your credit report and maybe sue you.
- paulie_a 8y ago
  There are different types of debt. I don't know for a fact if it is still true, but medical debt on your credit score wasn't even considered for a mortgage for the most part. If you had 20 past due copays that was worse than owing 20k
  - chimeracoder 8y ago
    > If you had 20 past due copays that was worse than owing 20k Copays are typically (though not always) paid at time of service, not billed after-the-fact. In any case, it takes a long time for a bill to become overdue and get sent to collections; before that, it won't show up on your report at all. Having 20 different overdue bills (of any sort) in collections is definitely an objectively worse sign of creditworthiness than having a single active loan of 20k of any nature.
- mrstatute 8y ago
  Exactly. Some blogs and other websites are offering bad advice. Performing overt actions such as: checking one's credit, sending debt validation letters, paying small amounts, maintaining other debt at the expense of another, seeking jobs which check credit, and others can empower debt collectors to pursue that individual vigorously. On the other hand, a completely destroyed credit report (100% charge offs) with no known mortgage or vehicle with a hard-to-find debtor is unlikely to be pursued since they are more likely to be collection/judgment proof. What many people do not realize is that most charged-off debt is uncollectible. Only a small fraction actually gets paid. Most debtors cannot be located by their collectors, and that's the primary reason why debt collectors will normally settle for less than what is owed.
  - learc83 8y ago
    >checking one's credit, Checking your own credit doesn't show up on the credit report collectors pull, so they would have no idea you did this. It also costs them money each time they pull a credit report, so they're unlikely to do it very often (or at all) by the time the debt is old enough that it's unlikely collectible.
    - mrstatute 8y ago
      Actually, the latest credit product systems from Experian and TransUnion (not sure about Equifax) allow creditors to see inquiry data as a list of dates. This array may include pre-approved offer checks and third-party pulls (such as those from Credit Karma). I believe you can even see this date list on Credit Karma as well. In the same way that a debt validation letter is a "smell" to the debt collector that the debtor is concerned about their debt (and potential credit status), any indicator that the debtor is evaluating their own credit can also potentially raise the debtor's file with the collector to high-attention (or litigation) status (versus being sold off to another collector).
      - chimeracoder 8y ago
        > Actually, the latest credit product systems from Experian and TransUnion (not sure about Equifax) allow creditors to see inquiry data as a list of dates. This array may include pre-approved offer checks and third-party pulls (such as those from Credit Karma). I believe you can even see this date list on Credit Karma as well. This is not the same thing as checking your own credit, which is not visible on reports that creditors see.
        ArchTypical 8y ago
        Soft vs Hard inquiries. There is a problem with various credit apps doing hard inquiries without the user being fully aware - ie Did you read and fully understand the disclaimer? https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/credit-education/report-basics/hard-vs-soft-inquiries-on-your-credit-report/ https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/credit-education...

onetimemanytime 8y ago

They are aggressive only when they smell blood. Ignore them and you can settle for 20%. They probably bought the debt for 5% so they are still ahead. "Ignore them" is also easier said than done since they will ruing your credit report and maybe sue you.

paulie_a 8y ago
There are different types of debt. I don't know for a fact if it is still true, but medical debt on your credit score wasn't even considered for a mortgage for the most part. If you had 20 past due copays that was worse than owing 20k
- chimeracoder 8y ago
  > If you had 20 past due copays that was worse than owing 20k Copays are typically (though not always) paid at time of service, not billed after-the-fact. In any case, it takes a long time for a bill to become overdue and get sent to collections; before that, it won't show up on your report at all. Having 20 different overdue bills (of any sort) in collections is definitely an objectively worse sign of creditworthiness than having a single active loan of 20k of any nature.
mrstatute 8y ago
Exactly. Some blogs and other websites are offering bad advice. Performing overt actions such as: checking one's credit, sending debt validation letters, paying small amounts, maintaining other debt at the expense of another, seeking jobs which check credit, and others can empower debt collectors to pursue that individual vigorously. On the other hand, a completely destroyed credit report (100% charge offs) with no known mortgage or vehicle with a hard-to-find debtor is unlikely to be pursued since they are more likely to be collection/judgment proof. What many people do not realize is that most charged-off debt is uncollectible. Only a small fraction actually gets paid. Most debtors cannot be located by their collectors, and that's the primary reason why debt collectors will normally settle for less than what is owed.
- learc83 8y ago
  >checking one's credit, Checking your own credit doesn't show up on the credit report collectors pull, so they would have no idea you did this. It also costs them money each time they pull a credit report, so they're unlikely to do it very often (or at all) by the time the debt is old enough that it's unlikely collectible.
  - mrstatute 8y ago
    Actually, the latest credit product systems from Experian and TransUnion (not sure about Equifax) allow creditors to see inquiry data as a list of dates. This array may include pre-approved offer checks and third-party pulls (such as those from Credit Karma). I believe you can even see this date list on Credit Karma as well. In the same way that a debt validation letter is a "smell" to the debt collector that the debtor is concerned about their debt (and potential credit status), any indicator that the debtor is evaluating their own credit can also potentially raise the debtor's file with the collector to high-attention (or litigation) status (versus being sold off to another collector).
    - chimeracoder 8y ago
      > Actually, the latest credit product systems from Experian and TransUnion (not sure about Equifax) allow creditors to see inquiry data as a list of dates. This array may include pre-approved offer checks and third-party pulls (such as those from Credit Karma). I believe you can even see this date list on Credit Karma as well. This is not the same thing as checking your own credit, which is not visible on reports that creditors see.
      - ArchTypical 8y ago
        Soft vs Hard inquiries. There is a problem with various credit apps doing hard inquiries without the user being fully aware - ie Did you read and fully understand the disclaimer? https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/credit-education/report-basics/hard-vs-soft-inquiries-on-your-credit-report/ https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/credit-education...