zombie Debt: coming now to a Credit Report new you!

 Zombie Debt: Coming now to a Credit Report near you!

Did you ever see Night of the Living Dead when you were a kid? I am not talking about the new one – I am talking about the original. The 1968 George A. Romero’s cult classic. It is black and white with ketchup laden cannibals. It has no plot and it lacks rhyme or reason , yet it terrifies me to this day.

Speaking of cannibals and having no rhyme or reason – we are going to discuss collection agencies (The carcass feeders) and their business practices (the lack of reason).  Look, I understand that if I do not pay a bill then it should go to collections, but at what point am I still tracked down for the demons of my past.

However, collecting on old debts is a rapidly expanding industry. This year a whopping $110 billion of such debt is expected to be sold to collection agencies, up from virtually nothing 10 years ago. Aggressive companies can buy charged-off credit card accounts from the original lenders for pennies on the dollar or less. Then, they use credit-scoring and other new technologies to identify which debtors are most likely to pay.

The players in this “junk debt” market range from fly-by-night outfits to well-established companies funded by Wall Street investors.  Many credit card companies have started selling delinquent accounts to collectors to boost quarterly earnings, according to a report by Kaulkin Ginsberg, a Rockville, Md.-based adviser on debt collection.

On face value, companies can make a profit if they can get debtors to repay even a tiny fraction. Along the way, some collectors realized they also could squeeze money from people who didn’t even owe it. Some consumers pay because their finances are so disorganized they don’t realize the debt isn’t theirs. Others are coerced into paying by illegal threats of lawsuits or ruined credit.

The consumer does have some protection: Six years after a debt goes into default, the collector no longer can sue to collect. And after seven years, the debt can’t be shown on a consumer’s credit report.

COLLECTION IS LEGAL

However, efforts to collect old debt are legal, as long as the collector doesn’t threaten to sue or report the debt to a credit agency.  

KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE AND YOUR ENEMIES EVEN CLOSER

The best thing you can do is to keep an eye on your credit by joining a credit watch service.  We recommend using True Credit they are a great service that provides a complete credit report with all three bureaus and scores for $14.95.