For Debt Collectors, the Dead Are a Healthy Bet

[randomness]

From http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/business/04dead.html?em=&pagewanted=all:

You’re Dead? That Won’t Stop the Debt Collector

The banks need another bailout and countless homeowners cannot handle their mortgage payments, but one group is paying its bills: the dead.

Dozens of specially trained agents work on the third floor of DCM Services here, calling up the dear departed’s next of kin and kindly asking if they want to settle the balance on a credit card or bank loan, or perhaps make that final utility bill or cellphone payment.

The people on the other end of the line often have no legal obligation to assume the debt of a spouse, sibling or parent. But they take responsibility for it anyway.

Dead people are the newest frontier in debt collecting, and one of the healthiest parts of the industry. Those who dun the living say that people are so scared and so broke it is difficult to get them to cough up even token payments.

Collecting from the dead, however, is expanding. Improved database technology is making it easier to discover when estates are opened in the country’s 3,000 probate courts, giving collectors an opportunity to file timely claims. But if there is no formal estate and thus nothing to file against, the human touch comes into play.

New hires at DCM train for three weeks in what the company calls “empathic active listening,” which mixes the comforting air of a funeral director with the nonjudgmental tones of a friend. The new employees learn to use such anger-deflecting phrases as “If I hear you correctly, you’d like...”

“You get to be the person who cares,” the training manager, Autumn Boomgaarden, told a class of four new hires.

For some relatives, paying is pragmatic. The law varies from state to state, but generally survivors are not required to pay a dead relative’s bills from their own assets. In theory, however, collection agencies could go after any property inherited from the deceased.

Finally, of course, some of those who pay a dead relative’s debts are unaware they may have no legal obligation.

Scott Weltman of Weltman, Weinberg & Reis, a Cleveland law firm that performs deceased collections, says that if family members ask, “we definitely tell them” they have no legal obligation to pay. “But is it disclosed upfront — ‘Mr. Smith, you definitely don’t owe the money’? It’s not that blunt.”

Comments

[bryant]

Yeah, we've gotten a lot of that. Didn't know it was a specially trained group, but that makes sense.

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

Wow. I knew people _did_ that... but yuck.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

"You get to be the person who cares"? SRSLY? That is outrageously brazen.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

Ah, maybe that explains why I'm suddenly getting mail about my mom's overdue Comcast bills again. I almost wish they'd call. It would be an interesting conversation.

[karakara98.livejournal.com]

They taught us active listening in b-school as a people management technique. I just say that to show that these techniques have legitimate and non manipulative uses.

Other than that though...this is disgusting.

[tfarrell.livejournal.com]

I read the above article yesterday. Disgusting. No wonder their clients don't want their names exposed.

My friend Bob is still getting calls about Fred's debts, a year after Fred's death. Fred died in debt and left no assets. Creditors are repeatedly calling back to ask if Bob is sure Fred left no assets, and isn't there maybe a little money left that's rightfully theirs? Some are even openly accusing Bob of lying to them. So if it isn't bad enough that he lost the man he loved, now he gets to be harassed by creditors during his mourning. I believe he has taken to threatening them with legal action if they continue harassing him. I suggested that when they call he should try sobbing uncontrollably at them on the phone and then flying into a hysterical screaming fit about calling his lawyer, and then hanging up. Maximize the trauma for the caller.

A note to all readers here: if you feel that a debt collector (as opposed to an original creditor) that has contacted you has done anything in any way questionable, immediately look them up with the Massachusetts Division of Banks (http://www.mass.gov/dob) (DOB) to check to make sure the are licensed to collect debts in this state. If they're not licensed, report them to the DOB immediately, I'm sure the DOB will be very interested to hear about the unlicensed debt collection action. Also make sure to read your rights on the DOB web site (linked above), as the firm may be violating them.

I was contacted several years ago by a company attempting to collect a debt from me that didn't seem familiar to me: I'd never heard of the company that I allegedly owed money. I disputed the debt, and they disappeared for about a year. They then popped back up, said that yup, they'd determined that I really did owe them money, so pay up. But the rules say they have to provide me with verification of the debt, and they refused to do so, so I complained to the DOB, sent copies of the paperwork, and asked them to please revoke the company's collection license. A month and a half later I got a letter from the DOB saying that the collector had agreed to drop the matter permanently and leave me alone.

[signsoflife.livejournal.com]

Scott Weltman of Weltman, Weinberg & Reis, a Cleveland law firm that performs deceased collections, says that if family members ask, “we definitely tell them” they have no legal obligation to pay. “But is it disclosed upfront — ‘Mr. Smith, you definitely don’t owe the money’? It’s not that blunt.”