Beating Credit Card Debt Collectors at Their Own Game

Consumer debt collectors! Credit Card debt collectors! There ought to be a law against them! Fortunately, there is a law, and educated consumers have learned how to use it to fend off these debt collectors by making their job difficult.

Time is money for a credit card debt collector, who is in the business of collecting unsecured consumer debt, most of which happens to be credit card debt. These consumer debt collectors and collection attorneys work on a percentage of what is collected. Most people think there is a debt collector for every debt, when the reality is there is only a debt collector for every easy-to-collect credit card debt.

The consumer debt collection industry’s growth has mirrored the growth of the credit card industry.

Consumer credit went from $133.7 billion of in 1970 to $2.5 trillion of debt in November 2007, according to the Federal Reserve and Business Week.

Each year debt collectors put more than $40 billion back into the U.S. economy, according to ACA International, a trade group for the debt collection industry.

There were 173 million credit cardholders in the United States in 2006, According to the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to the American Banking Associate, 4.75 percent of bank cards were delinquent in the first quarter of 2009.

These statistics indicate debt collectors are awash in millions of delinquent credit card accounts.

The Federal Reserve compels credit card companies to budget for bad debts. The credit card companies usually sell those bad debts after they are written off to junk debt buyers for no more than 10 cents for each dollar of debt. Given that bargain, junk debt buyers do not expect to collect on 100 percent, or even 50 percent, of the accounts they purchase, nor do the collection agencies and collection attorneys who work for them.

Debt collectors can make more money by pursuing delinquent credit card account holders who put up no resistance. Proper resistance to debt collection attempts usually causes debt collectors to look for less resistant targets. Effective resistance to credit card debt collectors relies on The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

According to the FDCPA the debt collector must notify the consumer in writing of their right to dispute the debt and have it validated. Validation means the collector must send copies of original documentation verifying the debt. The FDCPA also says the consumer can instruct the debt collector to cease collection attempts until they properly validate the debt. As original creditors credit card companies are not covered by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. However, the behavior of collection agencies, collection attorneys, and junk debt buyers is covered by this federal law.

So, who should the consumer debt-collection commissioned professionals spend their time with, those who properly dispute and request validation or those who put up no resistance?