San Diego, CA - "There is a new
twist for those delinquent, but still credit hungry,
consumers from the collections industry, in particular the
past due debt buyers. Be careful, if you are one of
those eager, but already delinquent, credit seekers,
because some of those offers for pre approved credit cards
you have been getting in the mail may be from someone who
is trying to collect a past due debt.
That's right! A collection agent sending out an offer for
a pre approved credit line, often in the $5,000-$10,000
range, a very alluring figure for those want-to-be
spenders. All that is required to get that pre approved
card is a signature and verification of the address/phone
number shown on the offer. A business reply envelope is
included and on the surface, it appears to be a legitimate
offer of credit. It also conveniently has all the current
contact information verified that a collection agent
needs, when the application is returned.
Instead of getting a credit card the applicant instead
will become the focus of a renewed and intensified effort
to collect a past due debt. Sometimes the debt is really
past due, like 10 or 15 years old and it has been
purchased in bulk with thousands of other accounts, for
pennies on the dollar amount due, by companies known as
the past due debt buyers. These debt buyers employ lots
of collectors and attorneys to sniff out the recoverable
assets and pursue collection of the original amount owed
to the original creditor plus thousands of dollars in
interest charges added to the account by the debt buyer.
ICFE has spoken with several consumers who have called
about the legitimacy of debt buyers and those companies
who try to collect the debt. A couple of them have
mentioned the pre approved credit offers they received and
one consumer in particular indicated he was tipped off
about the offer coming from a collection agency, when, by
chance, he noticed the address on a return envelope from
the collection agency was identical to the one for the pre
approved credit offer.
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