How Dirty are Collection Attorneys?

Collection Attorneys are notorious for their threatening and questionable tactics when t comes to collecting a debt. Often times debtors who are sued experience what is called "Sewer Service" where a Collection Attorney or process server does not properly serve the debtor with a summons in order to obtain a default judgment and execute to collect. Some states do allow for summons to be affixed to the door of a residence, or for debtors to be served via U.S. Mail. I have argued until I was blue in the face that this is a violation of a debtors Constitutional right to a fair trial, but as I am not a lobbyist it falls on deaf ears. Collection Attorneys will defend their practices as "just", "fair" and within the law, but are they ethical, and are they really "within the law"?

I found some marketing information from a debt collection attorney that could shed some light on all of this. Here are a few snippets.

• We provide the muscle behind your push for payment.

This sounds aggressive, and while it creditors may be looking for someone to help them collect the outstanding debt, there are consumer protection laws in place to make sure debtors are not "harassed".

• places a calculated amount of pressure on the debtor

What would be a calculated amount of pressure? I have heard of collection attorneys threatening several things that they cannot do. Keep in mind that you cannot be taken to jail for an inability to pay your debt. Could your wages get garnished or property have a lien put on it? The answer is yes, but only after a judgment is granted, and if your state law allows for it. Many Collection Attorneys will threaten these things and not tell you that they have to obtain judgment first. Getting a judgment is not always as easy as they make it out to be.

• It is important to note that the Defendant is unaware you have asked the Court for judgment in this case.

Here is a Collection Attorney admitting to "Sewer Service". By manipulating the system they are not giving debtors a chance to file an answer or appear in court to dispute the debt, or even give the debtor access to the information pertaining to the account. In a lot of cases there are trumped up and inaccurate charges and penalties on the account making the balance much greater then it actually is. Debtor's do have the right to review the information and get a fair trial. It's never good to just hide or ignore the summons.

• If, however, the Defendant files an answer, we usually respond with a motion for summary judgment. This motion is predicated on an affidavit from you that the account is due.

A motion for summary judgment can be looked at two ways, either the Collection Attorney has all of their information together, has presented it to the court and it is irrefutable evidence that the account is owed, or they have no information and are trying to push the case through without proving anything. Record keeping in the collection industry is sub-par, even more so when a debt has been bought and sold to a collection agency or recovery company. Often the Collection Attorney has no records pertaining to the debt and could not properly prove the amount owed in court.

• In most cases the Defendant cannot defend themselves and the Court awards a judgment in your favor. Note: if the Defendant can defend themselves at this point by showing the Judge that there are particular areas of the invoices that have been paid, then this is not a routine collection case and we need to carefully examine the circumstances surrounding the invoices to be certain everything is "in order."
  

Everything is "in order"? Does this reference the earlier mention of poor record keeping? Could it be that Collection Attorneys are suing without proper evidence in order to obtain a judgment and keep the debtor from a fair trial?

I can't answer all of that. I'm not an attorney, but debtors should know the dirty practices of Collection Attorneys. It is not a crime to have a hardship that has set you back on keeping up with your financial obligations, it is not a crime to seek debt help through a consolidation loan, CCCS program, debt settlement, or bankruptcy, but the practices of some Collection Attorneys are a crime. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act outlines consumer rights pertaining to debt collection. If you are in debt and are struggling to gt it resolved, know your rights and exercise them. Good people fall on hard times and do not deserve to be treated poorly by bad Collection Attorneys.