Originally published at: Debt collectors can now hound you on social media | Boing Boing
…
6 Likes
But if you don’t use Social Media/ Meta, they can’t.
You’re welcome.
29 Likes
Debt collectors are bullying bottom feeders, truly the scum of the Earth. And here’s the U.S. government making their lives easier.
21 Likes
Debt collectors are as bad as landlords and cops.
No humane civilization exists with any of them.
13 Likes
29 Likes
Good luck finding me, money grubbers.
18 Likes
Just curious, can you list any “humane civilizations” without any of those?
Nope.
Civilizations aren’t humane, generally for broader reasons.
12 Likes
Some annoying bastard is going to hand me his contact details, and a good fun reason to put my black hat on?
17 Likes
Wait to they get a load of my spam filter. Not even legit purchase receipts from a retailer get through easily lol
9 Likes
These rules were pushed through by Dump appointee, Kathleen L. Kraninger, who resigned as CFPB director in January 2021. Why are they just going into effect now?
5 Likes
sounds like we still have a trump appointee in charge of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
8 Likes
New rules always have a period of time until they take effect. If the rules will be particularly unpopular, they often have them take effect under the next administration.
10 Likes
I’m not sure lack of civilization makes for a better society, unfortunately. No cops means people will take justice in their own hands, and, however bad cops can be, that’s even worse. No debt collectors means no one will ever lend anyone any money. No landlords means everyone who can’t afford to buy his own place to live will have to sleep outdoors.
Civilization isn’t about banning any of these, it’s about putting up rules so they behave.
6 Likes
ehhh, we have cops, people still take justice into their own hands. Debt collectors certainly do not allow for lending, and I am quite sure lending will continue what ever the status of debt collectors. And we have landlords, and plenty of people still have to sleep outdoors.
You have cause and effect twisted in a very peculiar way –– behold what is before your own eyes.
4 Likes
Or during the second term of an administration. I shudder to think of what Trump would be doing now. It will be even worse if he wins 2024 as he will have a singular focus on exacting revenge on all who dared oppose him.
5 Likes
Situation X is bad. That doesn’t mean situation Y is bound to be better, or worse.
We have cops that sometimes manage to produce justice (along with the rest of the complex and large justice system), and sometimes don’t. We also have people that take justice into their own hands, would we have more or fewer if we had no cops? My guess is more, but it is just a guess.
Debit collectors give lenders some return on failed loans (they normally buy the debit at pennies on the dollar, and not very many pennies). So lenders would need to figure they don’t get those pennies. That would likely make no real difference. Like either it causes an extremely minor increase in interest rates, or for the very most marginal loans those will go away.
I’m less sure about landlords, and what would happen if you could never rent a home. I think it would cause the value of a home to drop, and people’s desire to own more then 1 or 2 of them to also drop, which would increase the supply, and would mean more people could own a home. Except “more people” is likely no where near enough, and rentals may do a better job of putting say six families in a large house then non-rentals ever would, so it might just expand the number of people that are happy to own homes, but ALSO expand the number of people unhappy to live on the street (or in cars)
We need more data points to actually establish cause and effect!
3 Likes
As someone who has made tens of thousands of loans, mostly in the former Soviet Union, but also in Africa and South East Asia, I can assure you debt collectors are necessary for lending. Without them, lending would grind to a halt because who would, or could, lend if no one pays their loan back.
The question is: who is the debt collector? Is it the local Sheriff ordered to seize defaulted property and sell it? Is it the lender themselves with an internal debt collection unit (which includes selling seized collateral)? Is it a third party collection agency, earning a percentage on the amount of debt collected? Or who bought a written-off loan for pennies on the dollar and are trying to collect on the outstanding value of the contract?
Debt collection is an integral and necessary part of lending. It can be done legally and ethically, or not. Debt collectors harassing borrowers is unethical, and allowing them to use social media and email for this harassment is going to be a disaster.
3 Likes
You don’t have to buy into capitalist realism so deeply.
Just because we have this system now doesn’t mean it’s good.
3 Likes
Usury is immoral, full stop.
7 Likes
