Have you ever had dinner interrupted when a rude bill collector has called making angry accusations? Have you ever been hounded for a bill that was not even yours? Unscrupulous bill collectors make over a billion calls a year to attempt to collect money that people may not even owe.
Fight Back against Unfair Debt Collection Practices is a surprisingly good read. Fred Williams is a reporter who spent several months working as a debt collector. According to him, he was working for one of the "reputable" collection agencies. That means that the collectors follow rules outlined in the Fair Debt Collection Act. He details his career as a bill collector. His interesting narrative provides a rare view into the somewhat seedy life of a bill collector.
While Williams began his quest looking to expose these practices, he learned that it is very easy to ignore the law and get people to pay any way he could. He was abused and scammed over and over by debtors determined not to pay. You have to end up feeling some sympathy for those bill collectors.
Of course that doesn't excuse the often illegal tactics they use. Williams devotes the final chapters of his book to ways we can protect ourselves from bill collection scams. He provides clear and easy-to-understand suggestions on how to fight back. He explains what a bill collector can and can't do. This book is a must-read for anyone who has ever been contacted by a collector.