More Bad Bill Collector Behavior

Pay your debts or your children will be taken away. It sounds like a twisted, modern-day version of a medieval debtors’ prison. But that actually is one of the many threats that bill collectors used in southern Illinois to bully and intimidate people into paying up, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday by Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

Collections agents with United Processing, Inc., a Jacksonville, Florida-based outfit allegedly told delinquent debtors that they would call the Illinois child protection agency and have their children placed in foster care if they did not pay up. Posing as attorneys, they also threatened to have the local sheriff come and arrest them, and if found guilty they would face two years in a federal prison.

“These defendants used malicious tactics to bully alleged debtors, their family members, and even their employers,” Madigan said in the press release. “This case is an egregious example of the unscrupulous methods often used to collect debts. These methods violate consumers’ rights and certainly will not be tolerated in Illinois.”

Madigan’s office received 11 complaints about United Processing since 2007. Her agency charged the company with violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and the Illinois Collection Agency Act, since the company allegedly was operating without a license. Madigan will ask the court to permanently bar United Processing from ever doing business again in the state. She also will ask that the company be charged a $50,000 fine for each offense.

What you should know

As Madigan said in her press release, a collection agency saying that it has the power to remove a debt holder’s children from the home is an outlandish threat. But it’s an extreme example of the broader trend, in which collections companies bully, harass and intimidate people. Sometimes these practices violate the law. If a collections company calls you at all hours of the day and night and uses overly aggressive tactics, tell them to call during normal business hours and to be respectful. If they refuse, report them to the Better Business Bureau and to your state’s attorney general.

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