Fred Williams is used to following leads and tracking down a good story. But in 2008 he put his journalism career on hold to try tracking down delinquent payments. According to a report from Walletpop.com, the journalist wanted to find out if the collection industry was as law-abiding and decent as it claimed to be. Williams wrote a book about his experience on the inside called “Fight Back Against Unfair Debt Collection Practices: Know Your Rights and Protect Yourself from Threats, Lies and Intimidation.” He doesn’t name the collection agency he worked for, but says it’s well-known and located in the Buffalo, New York area.
Although Williams doesn’t reveal his employer, he does reveal that collectors will use whatever words and threats they have to to get someone to pay up. Williams tells WalletPop that many times they did unprofessional and illegal things to get money. Some of the highlights from Williams’ interview with WalletPop include:
- It could typically take about 100 calls to connect with someone who would make a payment.
- Peer training was used which Williams believes was a way that trainees could learn illegal practices without having any written record of it.
- Williams advises consumers to never agree to pay a collection agency and then change your mind. He said those people received increased harassment.
- The end of the month is the best time to negotiate a deal with collectors because they’re under pressure to make quotas, according to Williams.
- Williams says avoid setting up a payment plan and just try to settle the debt because you’ll end up paying much less.
Tags: debt collection, debt settlement, credit, Fair debt collection, Collection agency
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