I submitted my comment at InsideARM in response to the article about FDCPA complaints submitted to the FTC:

Accurate Or Not, Consumer Complaint List Needs to be Addressed

I totally agree that consumer complaints need to be addressed and the FDCPA needs to be amended ASAP.

I’m hoping to take my case against IC System over telephone harassment to trial and to generate lots of publicity to get legislative changes.  Here’s one of the recorded messages:

http://ic-system-collection-suit.info/2008/7-1708-ic-system-automated-voice-mail/

*** The FDCPA needs to be amended to limit calls to ONE call per MONTH or as per the debtor’s express permission and messages are NOT to be left on VMs/answering machines.

*** Statutory damages need to be changed to PER violation and provide for minimum damages (similar to the TCPA) and PUNITIVE damages must be available for individuals.  The cap for class actions must be removed.

*** The right to dispute must be disclosed in the INITIAL communications, NOT 5 days later after the debtors were tricked into paying bogus debts.

*** NO collection can be reported to the credit bureaus until 30 days after the debtor’s receipt of the initial letter, sent by restricted delivery with signature confirmation.

*** If disputed, collections can not be reported until 45 days after validation was mailed to the debtor and a letter with the original creditor’s info or a printout are NOT validation.  FICO scores IGNORE the dispute notation currently required by the FDCPA, so they must be deleted.

*** No credit report is to be obtained unless the address on file is no longer valid and the initial letter was returned undeliverable.

As the government commits to gift TRILLIONS of TAX PAYER dollars to the bankers, the working people have been lied to and exploited by the bankers and instead of bailouts, they get harassment by collectors.

It should be the other way around.  The bankers should go to prison and the PEOPLE should get bailed out.

Valid debts SHOULD be collected, but not through harassment and extortion.  It is not appropriate to harass debtors until they agree to a payment arrangement just to stop the calls.  Collectors and creditors HAVE the legal right to sue and that’s the proper way to collect debts in a civilized country.

I have been publicizing for many years how unfair it is that FICO scores don’t give debtors a single point for the payment of collections. 

Why do I have to advise readers/clients to NOT pay valid collections they CAN and WANT to pay because they will lose their rights under the FDCPA and their FICO scores will NOT increase after payment?

Why doesn’t the ACA lobby legislators to amend the FCRA to require DELETION of paid collections? 

After all, the original creditors are probably reporting the accounts, so it’s not like consumers don’t have incentive to pay their bills on time.

Don’t you think that payments to collectors would increase by at least as much due to FAIR  credit reporting and deletion of PAID collections as is lost if the telephone harassment is prohibited?

I think it’s time to stop collection harassment and start FAIR collections and credit reporting.

I’ll be scanning and posting the IC System initial disclosures shortly.

As my litigation documents, you can’t expect to find justice in America.

The government is corrupt.
The corporations are corrupt.
The bankers are corrupt.
The courts are corrupt.

I’ve given up on CHANGING this corrupt system.

We’re past the point of no return.

I didn’t think anything could be done aside from defaulting on unsecured debt and walking away from overmortgaged houses and gas guzzlers worth much less than the auto loan.

Then I saw the slideshow about the common good banks and the revolutionary voting system.

We HAVE to try to make this work, to BE the banks.

Let’s LEAVE this corrupt system and move into OUR system.

It’s probably our only and last chance to turn this country around before we are completely controlled by the corporate fascists and live in a police state.

While we may be able to bring the financial system down by refusing to pay our debts or it may implode without our help, what are we going to do when we are successful?

We HAVE to take control of our money, our banks, our insurance companies, our UNCENSORED internet service and as many services as possible.

We HAVE to start getting involved in local government.

We HAVE to implement real democracy.

If we don’t do it now, we may never get a second chance.

The people who worked so hard to develop the common good banks did a wonderful job and made their vision reality.

Now it’s up to YOU to sign up.