Annals of evil businesses - tricking deadbeats

In desperate places, humans do desperate things.

We've a long way to go before we reach the depths of China's shame - the Sung dynasty's North Korea. We're not a different people though. Today can see echoes of that unspeakable desperation in the new businesses of mass disability America.

One of those new businesses is the collection of debts after the statute of limitations has expired. The trick is to get the deadbeat to pay just a tiny portion of the debt ...

Old Debts Never Die - They Are Sold to Collectors - NYTimes.com

... [bad debt] claims are routinely sold on debt collection Web sites, where out-of-statute debt is for sale for a penny or less on the dollar. In most states, it is legal for collectors to pursue out-of-statute debt, as long as they do not file a lawsuit or threaten to do so....

... consumer groups and even some industry consultants argue that collectors routinely harass debtors for unpaid balances that have exceeded the statute of limitations. In some cases, collectors have unlawfully added fees and interest... 

... “It’s so cheap, if you can work it smart, you don’t need to collect that much,” said John Pratt, a consultant to the debt-buying industry and an author of “Debt Purchasing: An Investor’s Guide to Buying Debt” 

... In a report issued July 12, the Federal Trade Commission called for “significant reforms” in the debt collection industry and recommended that states change the murky laws that govern out-of-statute debt. The statute of limitations for debt varies by state, generally from three to 10 years. In many states, collectors can restart the clock if they can persuade the consumer to make even a tiny payment toward the old debt...

... “The point of the payments is not so much to get the money” as it is to restart the clock...

A lovely trick. Use every possible trick to get the debtor to make a small payment, and then they're trapped.

Of course most of the people doing this job will convince themselves they're only repaying deceit with deceit in the cause of virtue. That's a very human rationalization.

If we don't find a way to employ millions of unwanted Americans, these businesses will be more and more appealing.