State warns against abusive debt collectors

Source: The Wisconsin State JournalAug.迷你倉沙田 22--Jennifer Lokken had taken enough. She paid. Only to get the rude, crude, nasty man off the phone and to keep him from calling her cancer-stricken father again.Lokken, of Altoona, is one of the several callers daily logging complaints with the Department of Financial Institutions about collection agency tactics.She said her experience with both an instant Internet-based loan company and a collection agency are examples of how rotten the system can be to an uninformed borrower.The DFI Wednesday issued a warning to consumers about debt collectors who may not be legitimate or licensed, and who use illegal tactics to collect.Lokken borrowed $500 from an Internet loan company to cover a rent payment, and agreed to pay back $650 within two weeks, she said.The company, instead of taking the entire $650 out of her account as promised, instead took $150 out every two weeks, and after four months had taken $1,000 and claimed that she still owed $600.Her loan was then "sold" to a collection agency, which violated several rules of engagement in contacting her repeatedly, contacting her ill father, yelling and screaming at her, threatening to sue her."They scared (my father), were abusive, called me a 'deadbeat,' mocked that my father was sick, and then the schnook called back and lied and said he didn't say any of those things.迷你倉價錢They called me constantly and said 'come up with the $600 by tomorrow or we are just going to keep calling,' " said Lokken."I shouldn't have paid them but I just couldn't talk with the guy anymore, taking that loan out was the stupidest thing I ever did," she said.So she paid, but she has filed a complaint alleging those abuses against Simon, Eichler and Associates with the DFI.Simon, Eichler, a New York-based debt collection company that has faced similar complaints, wouldn't respond to telephone inquiries.The DFI said there is at least one open complaint against Simon, Eichler.The DFI's warning noted that in many cases, the caller claims to be attempting to serve a summons, and if the consumer does not "act immediately," he or she will be arrested.The Internet appears to be the gateway to most of these cases, the DFI said, as consumers wittingly or unwittingly enter personal information on an internet application.That information makes its way to debt collectors "who target consumers for collection of debt the consumers do not owe, or at least do not owe the debt to the company that is calling," according to Paul Egide, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Affairs.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) Visit The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) at .wisconsinstatejournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉庫