Not many people know this, but Clark actually worked his way through grad school as a bill collector. He found it to be a rewarding experience as he worked with people to convince them to pay their bills.
Many people, however, get into the business and behave criminally. A reporter named Fred Williams recently wrote a book called
Inside Debt Collection that exposed the industry. An
excerpt appears in
Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
Williams went undercover for 3 months working for a collection agency. The things he reveals would turn your stomach. For example, if someone was a victim of ID theft, the collectors were trained to try to get them to pay on debts incurred by the person who stole their ID.
One collector in the book named Joe tried to get somebody to pay on a bill in this manner. Joe was publicly berated by his supervisor because he didn't go after the person's jugular when they stood their ground and refused to pay.
Other tactics that Williams reveals are pretending to take information from somebody while goofing off and then spewing out a made-up quote: "Well, based on the financial info you gave me, my computer tells me you should be able to pay 77 cents on the dollar." Talk about theater of the mind.
Collectors were also trained to get people to eviscerate their IRAs to pay past due credit card bills. They also told people to take out a second mortgage or skip their mortgage payments altogether in order to pay up! In addition, the old good cop/bad cop routine is a ploy frequently used by collection agencies.
Here's what you need to know: You
do have rights if you have a debt. Of course Clark wants you to honor your obligation and pay your debts. But if you were an ID theft victim, do
not pay under any circumstances. Once a debt goes beyond the statute of limitations, you are no longer required to pay. Try using Clark's
"drop dead letter" to get collectors to stop harassing you about debts.
If you decide to make good on a debt, never give the collection agency your checking account or debit number. Request a written agreement instead that states your payment will be accepted as full and complete on the debt. Then go get a money order. Do
not use your check, credit card or debit card -- unless you want to open yourself to the possibility that they may steal additional funds from you.
