District Attorneys And Collection Agents: A Partnership In Sleaze
District attorneys across the country are renting out their stationery to debt collectors, writes Jessica Silver-Greenberg in The New York Times:
The letters are sent by the thousands to people across the country who have written bad checks, threatening them with jail if they do not pay up.They bear the seal and signature of the local district attorney's office. But there is a catch: the letters are from debt-collection companies, which the prosecutors allow to use their letterhead. In return, the companies try to collect not only the unpaid check, but also high fees from debtors for a class on budgeting and financial responsibility, some of which goes back to the district attorneys' offices.
...Debt collectors have come under fire for illegally menacing people behind on their bills with threats of jail. What makes this approach unusual is that the ultimatum comes with the imprimatur of law enforcement itself -- though it is made before any prosecutor has determined a crime has been committed.
Prosecutors say that the partnerships allow them to focus on more serious crimes, and that the letters are sent only to check writers who ignore merchants' demands for payment. The district attorneys receive a payment from the firms or a small part of the fees collected.
"The companies are returning thousands of dollars to merchants that is not coming at taxpayer expense," said Ken Ryken, deputy district attorney with Alameda County.
Consumer lawyers have challenged the debt collectors in courts across the United States, claiming that they lack the authority to threaten prosecution or to ask for fees for classes when no district attorney has reviewed the facts of the cases. The district attorneys are essentially renting out their stationery, the lawyers say, allowing the companies to give the impression that failure to respond could lead to charges, when it rarely does.
Read Ms. Yartz' story at the link. Sure, prosecute people who are fraud artists, but government stationery shouldn't be used to scare people who used some bad math or forgot they didn't have enough money in their checking account to write a $47.95 check to Walmart.
Classifying this under the advice my father gave me.
"Bullshit Baffles Brains"
The bullshit here is the letterhead of the local DA. The baffling part is threatening jail under the auspices of the government force. Brains is people usually do not know how things work. An one thing people should know what the law is. Generally.
People need to keep an eye out for the BS in their life.
John Paulson at September 16, 2012 5:03 AM
I have won in court against third party cc debt. Doesn't seem like this is the same thing, but since that whole industry is a scam, it would be many times worse if this practice included cc debt.
Brendan at September 16, 2012 10:30 AM
A few years ago I closed a checking account a week before moving. A couple of days later I wrote a check for $5 at a little office supply place. Yep, I mistakenly used the old checkbook instead of my new one.
About six months later I got one of these letters, apparently from a Riverside County DA. This was the first notice I'd gotten that I'd bounced a check. My only bounced check ever. It was a very threatening letter, demanding I pay $50 in fees and $300 for the "financial responsibility" class, or I would most likely be arrested.
It seemed a little odd to me that they'd pursue someone to a different state over a $5 bounced check, so I looked the whole thing up online and found out the information you've given here.
The letter warned me not to contact the original company, and to only pay them. So I contacted the office supply place, explained what happened, apologized profusely, and paid them their $25 fee over the phone.
The debt collector called a couple of weeks later, and when I told them that I'd paid the fees, they told me the merchant had no right to accept the payment, and I'd be lucky not to be arrested if I didn't pay for the class. I declined.
I'm sure there have been plenty of people who were intimidated into paying for the "class" after seeing the letterhead. Real nice way for the DA's office to make money.
Kimberly at September 16, 2012 10:38 PM
As Reynolds keeps saying: Tar. Feathers.
Cousin Dave at September 18, 2012 5:55 PM
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