So, to complete an evening where nearly every post has some mention of my father:

My father used to have a saying: “That makes me see red.” This was used whenever something outraged him. I’ve always liked that saying, although I don’t seem to use it much myself.

Well, the following 4 part series of articles fit the bill.

In Debtors’ Hell—Debt Collection—Debtors’ Hell—Debt Management it quite clearly spells out the clearly illegal and unethical lengths that debt collectors will go to in order to squeeze money out of people who are barely making it.

Didn’t make the payment? Seize their car. Oh, I’m not saying they missed a car payment – I’m saying that this person lost a judgement in small claims court for a few hundred dollars, often a hearing they didn’t even know about, and the collections agent then proceeds to seize the car the defendant has that is already paid for. You know, the only car they have in order to get to work and could not in any way afford to replace. That car.

Mind you, this series is Massachusetts specific, but this sort of thing is happening all over. A lot of it is credit card debt – these cards are pushed into the hands of people that any decent creditor knows is a bad debt risk – but that doesn’t matter to them. It even mentions that, after fees and penalties, a bad risk card holder can be very profitable if you can threaten them into paying.

Get out of debt, friends, and stay out. Living within your means is the way to never deal with weasels like the ones mentioned in this article. You certainly can’t look to the courts or the legislature for any relief – the debt collection industry is one of the fasted growing industries in the country, and they love to funnel money to politicians that will give them free reign. Oh – and you’ll love the part about how the Sheriff’s departments can keep some of the proceeds from the seizures.

For a parallel, please look up the private prison industry.