CNN Highlights Debt Collection "Horror Stories"

Cable news network CNN is running a piece today on its CNNMoney personal finance section chronicling recent regulatory actions against debt collection agencies.

Titled “Debt Collection Horror Stories,” the article is a roll-up of the most egregious stories about debt collectors, or people pretending to be debt collectors, over the past year or so.

The piece starts off with last week’s announcement that the FTC is shutting down a Texas collection agency. Using the allegation that the collection agency posed as a law firm to collect from consumers, CNN rehashes the saga of Unicredit, the collection agency that went so far as to set up a fake courtroom to trick people into paying.

Although the article contains a brief quote from ACA International noting that a few bad actors tarnish the entire debt collection industry, the piece presents some of the worst actions as “popular” in the ARM industry.

Among other stories, the article references the fake California collection agency that used call centers in India to call U.S. consumers and one that threatened to dig up a debtor’s dead dog.

Related Content

• The Debt Collection Compliance Handbook
• FTC Debt Collection Complaints Compendium
• The Future of Compliance for the Debt Collection Industry