Posted on 03/07/2009 1:07:43 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Debt collectors are dunning the dead, seeking payment from deceased debtors or their next-of-kin by using sophisticated databases that scan probate court records and other information sources as a way to bolster revenues in depressing economic times, according to news reports.
The New York Times is reporting that though many banks may need a bailout and some homeowners can't make their mortgage payments, the departed are definitely paying down their part of the debt.
Post-mortem harassment is the latest trend in debt collecting, and one of the thriving parts of the reviled industry.
In Minneapolis, Minn., teams of debt agents labor on the third floor of DCM Services, are dialing up the departed dear ones' next of kin and thoughtfully asking if they want to settle the balance on a credit card or bank loan or make one last utility bill or mobile phone payment.
Generally, the living have no legal obligation to assume the debt of a spouse, sibling or parent, although laws vary by state.
“I am out of work now, to be honest with you, and money is very tight for us,” one man declared on a recent phone call after he was apprised of his late mother-in-law’s $280 credit card bill, and which he promised to pay $15 a month, the paper reported.
New collectors train for three weeks in empathic, active listening skills, which merges the comforting air of a funeral director with the nonjudgmental tones of a liberal social worker.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
From my cold dead wallet.
I am not responsible for any debts which I did not personally incur. Have a nice day. Click.
Till I cut off my landline this year, I still got one or two calls a year about bills from my uncle who died 19 years ago.
I started out polite but all I would say in the following years was F off and hang up the phone.
We just do not answer any non-local calls if we do not recognize the number, or at a minimum, the area code.
For a while, we were getting solicitation calls from charities at a rate of one every 15 minutes, now down to about 2 a day (we recognize the numbers).
You think that's bad?
I kept getting calls from first cousins I never knew existed demanding child support. ;-)
it gets worse than that. They’ll randomly call anyone with the same last name as the debtor and demand payment. I’ve received collection calls for people I’m unrelated to.
Oh! But they help to mitigate “brand risk” for the companies trying to collect from the relatives of the dead...look at how very nice their website looks.
http://www.dcmservices.com/challenges_brand_risk.php
While most people on this website understand that such calls need to be referred to the Estate attorney; many of our fellow citizens may be deceived. It is really despicable.
Check out this quote on their career page:
“Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless.”
- Mother Teresa
http://www.dcmservices.com/careers.php
I’d say sue the estate. Hopefully there’s none left as the proceeds have been distributed to heirs.
When one dies shouldn’t the outstanding bills be paid off, before any of the relatives grab a lamp shade?
Why shouldn't legitimate loans be repaid? If money was paid out of an estate in error, where is the honor and personal integrity in not returning it?
I see debt people.
“Is my name on the debt”?
“No? Pound sand, Mordecai”...
Years ago my girlfriend ran up large credit card bills and was killed in an auto crash. Since we lived together, the CC people called me, threatened me and I knew I was NOT responsible for any of her debt. I’d tell them they were welcome to come get whatever she bought as I was going to give the clothes to the Salvation Army. That made them quit. I did, however, run across a lot of stuff still in store packages that I took back, credited her account and lowered her bottom line. So, this is not something new. Never promise to repay anything you are not legally responsible for. After that first payment, YOU have assumed responsibility.
Another thing that is happening is con artist are sending estates fictitious bills hoping to get the estate to pay for a purchase or service that was never contracted for.
My wife’s uncle died and this is what happened. We just told them to file their complaint with the court, and get a court order for payment. It never happened. All legitimate bills were paid of course.
When one dies shouldn’t the outstanding bills be paid off, before any of the relatives grab a lamp shade?
I’m not an attorney, but I think legitimate bills should be submitted to the estate within a certain time limit. If that’s not done, creditors have no legal right to dun the heirs.
They started in on me not a month after my father passed away. He didn’t have many debts, just a few small ones, but I had to go ahead and pay them out of my own funds as they were turning stuff out to “collection agencies” (evidently bone pickers)immediately after I wrote them notification of his death and my intention to pay within weeks.
Once they learned of his death, they hardly waited until they had sent out their first bills after his death to start harrassing me, so I paid them myself in order to get them to quit calling and got his estate settled out a few weeks later. (I would have paid them as my Daddy would have NEVER let his bills go unpaid.)
Survivors owe zip. I think, though, if there is an estate, it needs to make restitution of all just debts. It's been a bazillion years since I took any law classes, but I seem to remember that as first on a will, even if the will is written by statute by the state.
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