Giving Notice of Debt Collections

In New York City, they have a problem with debt collectors failing to notify the debtors of court order to seize their bank accounts.

That's horrible! I know that in my state, you must be notified and only the money in the account on the day of the order can be seized; if the amount seized was less than the full debt, another court order would be required to attach money put in the account later.

Even Death Doesn't Stop Debt Collectors

I used to work with a woman whose first job out of law school was with a debt-collection outfit; you call the bank holding the deceased's credit card to let them know? Next thing you know, someone is calling you, asking for payment. Legally, the person's estate is responsible for payment, not any other individual who would not otherwise be liable. I know from experience, having been interrupted in the middle of the shower when an attorney/collector called my mom's house a few days after my dad died, that people can get scared when attorneys call.

Not all posthumous-debt collectors are attorneys, but a bank in my area has hired a law firm, which has a collections branch. My sister freaked out, thus the interrupted shower. Her take on the situation is that a phone call from an attorney is an emergency. Mine? Unless the house is burning down, don't bother me in the shower. An attorney is not an emergency.

While I believe in paying debt, many people are without insurance or any other asset, so the debt collector is taking advantage of the fact that people just don't know they're not responsible for another person's debt when that person dies. You also don't know that person's situation and it's entirely possible that they're committing to payments but can't really afford it. I'd have trouble making those calls because it's just unseemly.

I'm glad that my federally backed loans die with me; as it is, every month, the debt that doesn't die with me is reduced a little. Right now I'm insured for enough money that my co-signer will not be left holding the bag if anything happens to me.

Debt Collectors

Right now, I know two people who have been having trouble with debt and debt collectors. What's interesting to me is that people don't cut out the unnecessary in order to take care of these things. I'm happy that I'm currently able to make payments on all my bills, even though it doesn't feel like I'm reducing anything. I won't feel like debt has been reduced until I manage to pay off another student loan, even though it'll be awhile before that happens.

I know, unnecessary is in the eye of the beholder, and the last thing I'd pay for is a gaming subscription or satellite tv. My quasi-useless items are internet access and my cellphone. I use the internet a lot more than my cellphone and sometimes think I should switch to a pay-to-play phone. Except I don't have long-distance on my land line and have several contacts on the same cell carrier so have free calling for those people. I do a lot online, including communicate with friends, blog, shop and look for jobs. I also read the paper. Which is likely why my local paper has filed for bankruptcy. I don't know whether I'd pay for a subscription to the paper online when there's so much free content out there.

I think I have eliminated most of my unnecessary expenditures and I know I'm more thoughtful when making purchases, whether groceries or anything else. I'm bad for the economy, but have been bad for it for several years now.