I can’t decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing
(Fox News) To the dismay of consumer groups and the discomfort of Democrats, President Obama wants Congress to make it easier for private debt collectors to call the cellphones of consumers delinquent on student loans and other billions owed the federal government.
Certainly, people who owe should have to pay. But, is harassing people on their mobile phones who owe debts to the government a good thing? Using up their minutes, interrupting them at work (or, while agitating over on Wall Street). And what of those numbers which are called which no longer belong to the person Los Federales want to collect from? Typically, a wireless company will leave a number in a “cooling que” for 90 days before releasing it for use. I’ve had a number for four months, and still get collection calls for a guy named, interestingly enough William XXXXX (William is not, of course, my real 1st name). Some of them are in Spanish only (with no option to switch to English. WTF’s up with that?).
I wonder where this came from
The change “is expected to provide substantial increases in collections, particularly as an increasing share of households no longer have landlines and rely instead on cellphones,” the administration wrote recently. The little-noticed recommendation would apply only to cases in which money is owed the government, and is tucked into the mammoth $3 trillion deficit-reduction plan the president submitted to Congress.
So, Obama hid it inside his tax-and-kill-jobs creators deficit plan?
“Enabling robo-calls (to cellphones) is just going to lead to more harassment and abuse, and it’s not going to help the government collect more money,” said Lauren Saunders of the Boston-based National Consumer Law Center. “People aren’t paying their student loans because they can’t find a job.”
I wonder if Obama’s Consumer Protection Agency will speak out against this blatant abuse scheme of Obama’s?
Whatever the impact on the budget deficit, the proposal has aligned the White House with the private debt collection industry — frequently the subject of consumer complaints — at a time when the economy is weak, unemployment is high and Obama is embarking on his campaign for re-election.
Hey, Occupy Wall Street agitators, you now have another target, a fat cat overseeing trillions and who is worth millions who is coming after you folks who can’t find a job to pay your debts, one who gave bailouts to Wall Street and wants to help more Big Business while hosing your folks down on Main Street. Go, now, little agitator, fly off to D.C. and protest at the White House.
“The FTC receives more complaints about the debt collection industry than any other specific industry,” according to an annual report to Congress, more than 100,000 in 2010.
The complaints fall into several categories, citing alleged harassment, demands for impermissibly large payments, failure to provide required consumer notice and threatening dire consequences such as jail time.
I wonder if the robo-calls will use Obama’s voice?
But, again, I can’t decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Neither can Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durbin, and Chuck Schumer, who refused to offer comment when asked. What do you think?
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One problem I see (and discussed) is the fact the government has a program where the taxpayers are providing cell phones to the “less fortunate.” This is supposedly to help them get jobs, etc. The phones are basic phones and come with 250 minutes use per month.
I believe the people that qualify for the phones are those that are going to have debts and debt collectors pursuing them. That means the one program to provide cell phones will be cancelled out by allowing robocalls on cell phones as the robocalls will eat up the minutes.
The government can’t see the affects of their own legislation.
Does anybody actually listen to Robocalls?
When I answer the phone the moment I realize it’s a robocall I hang up.
My thought exactly Adobe. How will a robo-call increase the payments? If robo-calling didn’t do it for land-lines, then it won’t do it for cellular. What about those who use VoiP?
I actually have no problem with a business trying to get its money back. There are ways to stop “harassment” type calls. And that is called a lawyer or the police.
But, doesn’t it seem odd that there is this provision in a large bill… that NOW allows it? Was it not allowed before? Why or why not?