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There seems to be a lot of confusion about what debt collectors have the authority to do. Admittedly, some collection agents might intentionally lie or insinuate that they can do more than they legally can to intimidate debtors. Generally the main factor that will motivate debtors to pay is the persistence of correspondence from the collection agency. If they do not pay, they know that the letters and phone calls will not stop.

Collection agents do have the power to negatively mark credit scores which can do a lot of financial damage and remain on the report for seven years. If a debtor is especially resistant and obviously has assets, a third party collection agent will either recommend that the creditor sue them, or if they own the debt themselves, they are entitled to sue themselves.

Contrary to popular belief, debt collectors can’t seize a debtor’s bank accounts, assets, or garnish wages unless there has been a successful lawsuit already with a judgment against them. Debt collectors are strictly banned from making the debt public. The only entity that they can discuss the debt with is the credit bureaus. They can not get a debtor fired from their job, and if a collector was to threaten violence on a debtor for the purposes of intimidation, they would almost certainly be fired, and perhaps sued.

Again, consumers generally pay off their debts to collection companies to stop the constant correspondence, but oftentimes, most debtors realize that the debt is legitimate and it is the right thing to do. Perhaps they did not have the money to pay on the delinquent account in the past, but have it now, or maybe the account simply slipped their mind.

In light of the negative stereotypes about debt collectors, it is ironic that it is oftentimes the collectors themselves that enable the debtor to repay their debt. Collectors generally have the authority to offer some type of repayment plan or debt reduction plan, or in some cases, both. Because of their two main capabilities, one being the authority to damage your credit score, and two being the authority to make it easier to pay, it is never a good idea to simply ignore a call from the debt collector.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on medical collection agencies Free reprint avaialable from: Exactly What Can A Debt Collector Do To Me If I Don’t Pay?.

In a mind-blowing turn of events, bill collectors from Advanced Call Center Technologies LLC have to shell out a whopping one point five million dollars for rude and vulgar voicemails that were sent to a man’s mobile phone. According to sources, the company sent out eight threatening and demeaning voice mails on Allen Jones’ phone attempting to collect what it claimed he owed on a credit card.

Most of the messages were ridden with profanity and horrifying racial slurs. “This is your mother (curse) wakeup call you little lazy (curse) (curse),” a collector was quoted as saying in one message. “Get your (racial slur) (curse) up and go pick some mother (curse) cotton fields,” said another. Jones is African-American.”This is not acceptable. Nobody should have to go through what I had to go through,” he said.

Mark Frenkel, one of Jones” lawyers says: “If we didn’t have the messages on tape, nobody would have ever believed that this occurred.” “This is definitely, without any doubt, the most horrifying collection case I have ever seen,” Dean Malone, Jones” other lawyer, added. Jones took Advanced Call Center Technologies to court over the harassing, threatening phone calls. And last Friday, a Dallas County jury awarded him of the biggest verdicts of its kind – 50,000 dollars in mental anguish and one point five million dollars in punitive damages.

“Today we made a statement” said Jones in reply to the verdict, “and the statement is we will not tolerate abusive debt collectors.” According to the attorneys, employees from Advanced Call Center Technologies confessed to the calls, but it remains unclear if they are still with the company and whether the company will appeal the case or not.

Meanwhile, Jones has always disputed the debt and claims that he paid it, and the amount in question was a minuscule amount of two hundred dollars. It seems unbelievable that this man had to suffer like this for such a small amount, and now, thanks to the American court system, and justice, it is.

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It was recently revealed in a study that laws that ban cell phone use while driving don’t seem to be reducing crashes. According to the new Highway Loss Data Institute, there have been no reductions in crashes since cell phone bans have come into play.

This information was obtained by a comparison among insurance claims for crash damage in four United States jurisdictions both before and after these bans.

Month to month fluctuations in the rates of collision claims in the place with restrictions were taken into account and it was shown that there was no difference between either jurisdiction. Despite the fact that the cell phone bans have reduced hand held phone use, several studies have established that talking on the phone increases crash risk. It has been determined by two independent studies that people who use cell phones are four times as likely to crash.The information that the HLDI uses doesn’t identify drivers using cell phones when their crashes occur. But the reductions of observed phone use have been so large, one would suspect that crashes should be reduced as well.

“So the new information that we have collected doesn’t match what we currently know about the risk of talking on the cell phone and texting while driving,” An expert points out. “Obviously, if crash risk increases with phone use and there are less people using cell phones, we would expect to see a decrease in crashes. But we aren’t seeing it. Nor do we see collision claim increases before the phone bans came into play. This is surprising, too, given what we know about the growing use of cell phones and the risk of talking on the cell while driving. We’re currently gathering data to figure out this mismatch.”

There are a number of factors that could be diminishing the effects of hand-held phone bans on crashes. One factor is that drivers in areas with cell phone bans might be switching to hands-free phones because no state forbids any type of these phones. If this was happening, crashes wouldn’t go down because the risk is about the same whether the phones are hand-held or hands-free. D.C. and twenty one states do ban beginning drivers from using hands-free phones, but these laws are difficult to enforce.

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According to a report compiled by LexisNexis, United States merchants are suffering from $191 billion in fraud losses this year. Believe it or not, the average merchant will be subject to almost ten times the identity theft of financial institutions.

The retail industry is currently suffering from $100 billion in losses as a result of identity theft; that number is pumped up to $191 billion when you factor in lost and stolen merchandise. Stores lost more than twenty times the consumer fraud losses which came to about $4.8 billion in 2008.

“The total impact of retail fraud is versatile and extensive as this crime targets multiple victims,” said Jacob D. Almeida, Vice President of Risk Solutions and expert in corporate markets. “We are seeing huge increases in identity fraud overall as well as increases in the more typical fraud categories like charging back. With the recession and increasing sophistication in criminal fraud methods, it is imperative that merchants and financial institutions work together to cut back on fraud.”

Here’s the scoop on the different types of fraud affecting merchants: identity fraud or fraudulent transactions took the majority of the cost of fraud, representing 52 percent of total fraud losses. Additionally, it was a number of merchant groups in particular that suffered the damage. Large eCommerce retailers lost 40%, an upsurge from last year.

Merchants that specialize in telecommunications, online gaming and social networking sites reported 64 percent to 67 percent of their complete yearly fraud loss as a result of identity fraud. Digital goods merchants attributed 54% of their fraud loss to purchases that were unauthorized. Furthermore, one in five retailers reported an increase in unauthorized transactions associated with identity fraud.

Credit card crimes continue to rise sharply, however it has been alternative payment systems likeonline and mobile payments that have been a confusing source of losses for some major stores. Finally, there’s “friendly fraud,” where a customer makes an online purchase with their credit card, then issues a chargeback after getting the purchase. This accounted for more than one third of overall fraud for online merchants.

Mallory Megan is employed by a debt collection agency. Also she writes articles on business, finance, consumer spending and collection agencies. You are welcome to reprint this article – but get your own unique content version here.

Income is limited these days for everyone, who struggles to maintain the standard of living. In the past, loans carried you through college, but now that you’re out these debts have come out to haunt you. You may be contacted by various debt collectors and left a frantic mess seeking someone who can help you with a school loan consolidation.

The majority of students that have just finished their education and are currently looking for jobs attempt to work federal school loan consolidation first. This loan has benefits in a number of ways. First, the government is the source of this loan but it is issued by private lenders. That means that the time you have to repay the loan has the capacity to be extended for a long duration.

Perhaps the most enticing benefit of school loan consolidation is the fact that the multiple student loans are substituted with only one loan. The overall amount of the debt is reduced; at times this reduction can even go up to 60%. This, of course leads to reduction in your monthly payment.

Even better, the new rate of interest is based on the weighted average of the rates that apply on your current loans. You’ll also get rid of the mental stress connected with remembering the details about multiple loans. Consolidation doesn’t require a cosigner or any checking of the credit score, and you can use this opportunity to improve the credit score or rating.

One problem that comes with the situation is that is it is very difficult to prove yourself eligible for the federal school loan consolidation. Typically, you will need the assistance of a good debt consolidation expert to prove that you are eligible for this kind of consolidation. The standards to be qualified for this loan are very rigid, leaving many ineligible for the loan. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to check to see if you qualify. It could be a good resource for protecting your finances in the future.

Mallory Megan is employed by a debt collection agency. She also writes articles on business, finance, consumer spending and collection agencies. You are welcome to reprint this article – but get your own unique content version here.