There are not many careers as maligned as debt col-lectors, and a good deal of that harm is self-inflicted. Federal Trade Commission com-plaints and lawsuits against collectors are at an all-time high. The proof is here: Debt collector complaints surge along with FTC lawsuits

Number of suits by feds skyrocketing

Debt collectors do not have an easy job, attempting to get people to pay debt they incurred and cannot pay. Lots of peo-ple have heard bad things about the debt collection firms and employees in spite of the fact that they are honest peo-ple typically.

Online payday cash advance lenders get fewer complaints about collectors.

The Federal Trade Commission, according to USA Today, has been growing its efforts in holding debt collectors accountable to the laws that govern how they can do business. There are more suits submitted against collectors right now than ever even though lawsuits against collection agencies are typically left to states. The last few years have been specifically bad. There have been 10 suits against agencies that the FTC has filed. Typically a three year period would have far fewer suits. There were only six in the three years before that.

Hearing complaints from everyone

About 104,766 grievances were submitted to the FTC in 2008 about collectors. Last year, according to ABC, there were 144,159 grievances. The only thing customers complained to the FTC about more than collectors was identity theft.

As reported by CBS, the most common complaint is continuous calling. Between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m., a collector cannot call without per-mission. It is also considered harassment if they call more than one time in a day. In 2010, 46.5 percent of complaints involved this.

Other grievances involved people getting calls while at work, telling employers or relatives about the debts, threating people, not giving proof of debt and trying to get more money than is owed. There were a small number of complaints, 4,182, as reported by USA Today, of threats of physical violence.

Know the rules

The Federal Trade Commission’s website has all of your rights in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act listed on it. Do not allow anyone to abuse you in their actions. CBS points out that the FTC does not file suits over one complaint that has been made. They only file suits if many individuals have complained.

Your state could bring action upon collectors if you file your complaint with the Lawyer General’s office. Do this along with processing it at the Federal Trade Commission.

Information from

USA Today

ABC

CBS

USA Today

FTC Fair Debt Collection Practices webpage