New York Times – Inside the Criminial Underworld of the Debt Collection Industry

Last week’s New York Times Sunday magazine had a feature story detailing the criminal underworld network behind the bottom feeder debt collection industry.  The article, by Jake Halpern,  titled Paperboys: Inside the Dark Lucrative World of Consumer Debt Collection explains how the industry uses lies and pressure to make huge profits by paying 1% of the face amount of the debt and collecting 100% through intimidation and unfair collection lawsuits.







When the collectors go to court, no matter how many times the debt has been assigned, the collector maintains that the debt is absolutely legitimate and absolutely owned by the agency collecting it.  This is often a fallacy.   The debts are sometimes sold to multiple parties, each trying to collect; and sometimes unauthorized people get a hold of the accounts list and start outlaw collection.  That’s why individuals and the courts must insist on strict accounting for proceeds and ownership of the accounts.   They aren’t doing it right now.