The New York Times ran an article suggesting that debt collectors are in essence trying to “save face.” The article titled “Debt Collectors Try to Put on a Friendlier Face” implies (in my perception) that debt collectors gone bad are being pressured into cleaning up their act. I recognize there are debt collectors that practice unethical tactics in an effort to strong arm debtors into paying their bills. The truth is there are bad apples in most industries giving the industry a bad name. This is not to say that most debt collectors are unscrupulous; they’re not – it’s a select few that can have a demoralizing affect on any industry’s reputation.
The article further suggests that “just in time for a recession, the debt collection industry is working to shed its reputation for remorselessly hounding people.” This is not “new news;” helping people has been an ongoing objective of this industry for years. Helping people is what we do; we help creditors to recover their past due revenues while we work hand in hand with debtors helping them to resolve problems they experience in bringing their past due accounts current.
Past due receivables could be a result of a dispute over products or services received; it could be a result of a cash flow crisis, identity theft, or unexpected unemployment, a serious illness in the family… there are endless reasons a debt could occur. It is our purpose as debt collectors to get to the core of the problem and resolve it to result in a win-win for creditors as well as debtors. Our success is dependent on our ability to provide prosperous results for all parties concerned.
In this article, Mr. Robert M. Hunt, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia was quoted to say “Collectors are in a jam, the business is so big and the anecdotes so nasty, they can’t hide.” My response – The truth is the majority of debt collectors are exceedingly ethical and provide a much needed service to creditors and debtors, we do not “hide;” rather we excel and thrive and when we do so do our customers… both creditors and debtors.
It was noted in this article that “even in the relatively good times in the middle of this decade, complaints about the industry consistently rose. In 2006, the most recent figures available, the Federal Trade Commission received 69,204 complaints against third-party collectors, more than quadruple the number in 2001.” While this is an accurate account regarding complaints the FTC received in this timeframe, it is insignificant in comparison to the undisclosed number of ethical and vital achievements our industry has triumphed. Typical of most scenarios, the focus remains on the negative as opposed to the extraordinary positive results we as an industry have successfully accomplished.
Donna Vestre, President/Founder
South Coast Revenue
