http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/09/news/economy/debt_collection_harassment/index.htm

And that's fine with me. All the commenters in this (and similar) articles spout off about their "rights." They never mention the right for the person/institution they borrowed money from to get paid back.

Debt is run up during the good times. When a setback occurs (a really common one, like job loss or auto repair) these deadbeats just mewl about how unexpected it was.

This is a problem, in good times also.

Medical bill collectors can be impossible.

I arrived home one night about 7 PM looking forward to peace and rest.

A message from a creep told me to call him. I did so, he was a thug--informed me I owed nine hundred and some odd dollars due and payable that very instant!

I said, "To whom do I owe this money?"

He growled, "You had an MRI!"

I replied," Oh they do their billing through a collection agency."

He said, "They couldn't find you."

How funny I had only lived at the same address for 11 years.

"I will call them," I answered. "I have perfect credit and will not deal with a collection agency. "

"You won't have after tonight," he threatened

"Fine!" and I hung up on him.

He tried to ruin my credit, but didn't succeed. I paid $26.50.

I had insurance-- an overlooked fact.

Not many people borrow money from a person these days, and the institutions are getting bailouts.

Ann

I had weekly lab bills for a number of months but excellent insurance that left me with only a few dollars (literally $3 - 11 or so) to pay on each bill. I didn't realize that the day the bill was due, the lab turned it over to the collection agency. Since I wasn't working and had lots of accumulating bills, I sort of let those little ones slip. Suddenly I had a rash of credit collection agencies calling and mailing to collect on those little bills. The same bills had been turned over to more than one collection agency. Some bills were turned over before the insurance was paid. It was a mess - and so was my credit as a result. Some of the phone calls sounded like the mafia was coming for $3.00.

Absolutely ridiculous. To think that some folks are literally on their death beds and have to put up with this.

The banks have their nerve too. While thery are bailed out they show no mercy on their customers.

I had a line of credit with my bank and they raised my interest to 29.9% .

I went to the bank closed the account and asked the payut amount.

I paid what they told me and lo and behold I had a credit balance. When I tried to transfer the balance into my checking account--not allowed.

I asked for a refund and also interest. Guess what they said the error was not their fault.