In April, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for a debt collection moratorium until the pandemic subsided. Besides, people are already quite worried.
The action was not carried out anywhere due to legal issues. But it is a tool for our civic leaders to quickly recognize what will soon appear to many people with bills to pay.
Consumer advocates say debt collectors have grown more aggressive because orders remain at home in California and across the country making it easier for them to contact, and sometimes harass, people who owe money.
Christine Hines, legislative director for National Assn. Consumer Advocates, said he believes “debt collection will only increase in the coming months” as millions of Americans struggle to make ends meet amid job losses and salary cuts.
“The pandemic does not change how rude debt collectors are, it just shows that they are able to do more harm to vulnerable consumers than we thought,” he told me.
It is understandable why debt collectors improve their game. Consumer debt reached a record $ 14.3 trillion in the first quarter – and that was, in large part, before the coronavirus was successful.
Economists say debt has almost certainly grown since then after tens of millions of Americans lost their jobs and many saw their salaries cut.
U.S. Department of Labor reported last week that the unemployment rate was now 13.3% – although it said it would be as high as 16.3% if data collection errors were recorded.
At present, the debt collection report is largely anecdotal booster. A spokesman for the Federal Trade Commission said the official calculation of complaints from consumers will not be available until the end of the month.
But there is no dispute that the hard times.
Outstanding financial obligations must now compete with paying rent or mortgages, buying food and covering medical expenses.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signs executive order in April temporarily blocked debt collectors from decorating cash from federal stimulus payments made to households amid a pandemic. He also decided that payments on most student loans could be postponed, without penalty, for 90 days.
“Californians are reeling from the financial impact of COVID-19,” Newsom said. “The last thing they deserve is to see more money being held when they try to put food on the table and pay their rent or mortgage.”
ACA International, a leading trading group that represents debt collectors, said its members were misunderstood.
Mark Neeb, the organization’s chief executive, said in a statement that debt collectors “remain committed to consumers,” and that the industry has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with “compassion and empathy.”
Kiran Sidhu, a policy adviser at the Center for Responsible Lending, could not help laughing when I told him.
“They are just trying to protect their profits,” he said, adding that he hoped the industry would become stronger in the pursuit of consumers as the pandemic continued.
Case in point: Debt collectors have explained that they don’t like a suggestion from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which will require the industry to notify consumers that their debt restriction laws may have passed.
In California, the statute of limitations for the majority of consumer debt is four years. After that amount of time, a collector can still chase you, but they cannot take you to court (or if they do, you can cancel the case).
This may be news to many people, not least because debt collectors often imply or state that if you don’t cough, you will be sued regardless of how long your debt lasts.
Changes to the CFPB rules will also require collectors to tell people that if they even make a very small partial payment, it can restart legal hours and make you vulnerable again to lawsuits.
Neeb said determining whether a debt restriction law has passed is “not always a simple question” and could be a burdensome requirement for the collection industry.
That said, debt collectors would rather not have to do more homework. They would rather spend their time interrupting people’s dinners and scaring them about the dangers of the law and financial disasters.
When job loss increases, the FTC issues a the latest reminder that consumers have rights based on Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
“If there are too many collection calls, you can stop them,” the agency said. “Just send to the mail collector who tells them to stop contacting you.”
That won’t eliminate your debt, the FTC noted, “but stopping the call can give you time to regroup, then start working your way towards financial recovery.”
Some other things to remember:
- Debt collectors are prohibited by law from calling you before 8 am or after 9 pm. unless you authorize them to do so (Don’t).
- The collector must show written proof of financial obligations if you request it.
- No collector is permitted to verbally abusive you, use language that is disrespectful or misrepresents their status, such as falsely claiming to be a lawyer or government official.
- If you feel you have been treated unfairly, contact the state attorney general’s office, FTC, CFPB, or all of them.
That debt collection moratorium I mentioned above was introduced by L.A. City Councilor Monica Rodriguez. It asked Mayor Eric Garcetti to declare debt collectors “business unimportant” during the pandemic and thus temporarily prevent them from operating within the city limits.
“The family has struggled and experienced economic trauma,” Rodriguez told me. “We don’t need repo officers showing up at the door and taking assets.”
The mayor’s office replied that although the sentiment behind the proposal was laudable, City Atty. Mike Feuer questions the legality of displacement and whether city officials have jurisdiction over collection agencies outside the country.
But do not worry. You can still count on all the compassion and empathy promised by debt collectors.
