How Debt Collectors Really Work–and How to Fight Back!
An Insider's Report from Fred Williams, Award-Winning Investigative Reporter
- Discover the dirty tricks collectors use
- Negotiate settlements that can save you a fortune
- Learn how to stop the harassment now!
In this book, investigative reporter Fred Williams takes you inside America's vicious debt collection industry, reveals how the game is really played, and shows you exactly how to defend yourself.
Debt collectors rely on ignorance and fear. When you know your rights, and you know their tricks, you can fight back–and win. This book reveals how to get the law on your side, make the calls stop, and slash your debt by thousands!
This year, America's enormous debt collection industry will make an estimated 1,000,000,000 collection calls. They will threaten. Lie. Mislead. Intimidate. Over the past five years, their callers have racked up more than 300,000 complaints to the FTC: more than any other industry it regulates.
Author Fred Williams has won awards for his reporting on debt collection in America–and he went inside the industry spending three months working for one of the largest firms in the business. Now, he reveals everything he learned "in the belly of the beast"–and shows you exactly how to fight back and protect your rights.
You'll learn what to do first if a collector calls…what collectors can and can't do…which debts you are and aren't responsible for…how collectors choose their targets…how to stop harassing or abusive calls…how to negotiate a debt settlement that can save you a fortune. Williams even reveals how to take the offensive–with a lawsuit that can halt collection and perhaps even earn you a settlement!
- Inside the debt collection game Lessons in deception, straight from the boiler room
- The right answers when the collectors call What to say–and what you should never say
- Get the law on your side How to stop collection calls, check out a collector, and use collection law
- Negotiate a debt settlement that saves you thousands Bargain down your debt, the smart way
About the Author
Fred Williams (Buffalo, NY) has written about debt collection for Kiplinger's Personal Finance and the Buffalo News, and has covered personal finance since 1999. He undertook a six-month research project on the industry in 2006, supported by the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism. He followed up that work in 2008 by taking a job at one of the nation's largest collection agencies. An award-winning journalist, Williams' articles have been published in the Washington Business Journal, USA Today, and he has been interviewed on CNBC and ABC's Good Morning America.
Book Details
- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: FT Press; 1 edition (August 26, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0137058306
- ISBN-13: 978-0137058303
- File Size: 5.4 MiB
- Hits: 622 times
