In the first two articles I wrote about what a collections account was, how sending delinquent accounts out to an agency profits a creditor, and the act of a third party collection agency buying old debt from a creditor.

I wrote about what type of information a collection agency will collect and use in their efforts, and also that third party collection agencies are governed by federal and state laws and are overseen by the FTC.

Some collection agencies will use illegal, deceptive and strong arm tactics to confuse and intimidate consumers including pretending that they are one of their creditors and requesting them to verify information, pretending to be an old friend or neighbor to catch a debtor off guard, repetitively calling or mailing a debtor to the point where it becomes a nuisance, or sending threatening letters or leaving threatening voice mail messages.

Legal but manipulative practices include pressing the debtor, preying on their emotions, and using vague threats like “respond within ten days or further collections attempts will follow.” Other illegal practices include making an idle threat of litigation or pursuing litigation when the debt collector has no intention to, threatening to throw a debtor in jail, threatening to garnish wages or seize bank accounts when they have no authority to, lying about the amount that is owed, or asking for more than what is owed are used as well.

For the collections industry, time is the enemy and a good bill collector is completely aware of this bit of information. Their main task is specifically to get money as soon as possible.If you are talking to a debt collector, keep in mind that at any time you have the legal right to tell them you are busy and will call them back if you are flustered, hang up, cool off, develop a game plan, and contact them later. An aggressive debt collector will ask you why you can’t make payment arrangements today.

Rapid Recovery Solution is a commercial collection agency that writes stories on commercial collection agencies.

Beginning November First of 2009, financial institutions and other creditors were told to comply with the Red Flag provisions of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. The purpose of the Red Flag rules is to prevent and alleviate identity theft. Identity theft might be defined as any fraud involving people getting particular benefits by pretending to be someone else.

Broad in scope, the Red Flag rules define financial institutions as any organization engaged in insurance, banking, or similar activities, and a number of the definitions come with the breathing room to expand compliance demands. Any consumer account involving multiple payments or transactions that is offered to these organizations can potentially be subject to the rules.

In a nutshell, the rules state that any financial institution or creditor that may be subject to a reasonable and predictable risk of identity theft must create or develop an identity theft prevention program in order to remain in compliance. These programs should include identification of any activity that might be considered identity theft. They should pursue red flags that have already been identified, and should take action to prevent and mitigate theft. Finally, period review and updating of red flags are necessary to comply with the Red Flag provisions.

In addition, the Red Flag provisions state that an institution’s identity theft prevention program shall be managed and written by senior company management. Training and overseeing this service are required.

Identity theft is a costly and harmful issue; business and consumer losses came to about $56.6 billion in 2005 alone. But when one considers how harmful identity theft can be to a business, not complying with these regulations can be even more expensive and disparaging. Potential losses, expensive investigations, regulatory fines and potential lawsuits are all negative consequences of non-compliance. It seems as though their best bet is to follow the rules.

Rapid Recovery Solution is a third party debt collection company lawyer based and equipped with skiptracing tools.

I talk to clients and potential clients every day who are considering filing for bankruptcy and want my advice as an Orlando bankruptcy lawyer. Almost always, prior to even speaking about how bankruptcy can benefit him or her, or the amount of debt the person has, I am told about their “850 Beacon Score”. Or, they glowingly speak of their “A++” credit score.

“That’s nice”, I might say, and then ask them to “tell me about the money you have saved up for retirement, tell me about the discretionary income you have each month, and tell me how nice it is to not have to make 8 different minimum monthly payments each month to credit cards”.

Silence.

According to a recent blog post by Connecticut consumer and bankruptcy lawyer, Gene Melchionne, a person’s credit score tells you two things, “how you handle the debt you already have and how will you likely handle any new debt.” You see, a credit score, and the banking industry that promotes and relies on a person’s credit score, are dependent on people constantly feeling they have to pay off debt and then get new debt.

Think it over. Would you really care about your credit score if you didn’t need to borrow money? If you could become debt free, and get off of that debt hamster wheel, you would no longer be a slave to your credit score! Even so, some clients are still worried about what filing bankruptcy will do to their credit score. As their bankruptcy lawyer, I simply tell them about experiences of past clients. Many, within months of receiving their bankruptcy Discharge, have financed the purchase of car. What is more surprising to those not familiar with the bankruptcy process, is that many of my clients received credit card offers in the mail on the same day their bankruptcy Discharge came.

In the vast majority of cases, a person’s credit score will rebound a couple of years after a bankruptcy Discharge.

Many people have lost site of really important financial matters like, “Am I doing enough to make sure I’m comfortable in retirement?” They have become a slave to some computer generated credit score number for years.

In retirement, an A++ credit score won’t do much to supplement your social security check each month.

Stop by K. Hunter Goff’s site where you can find out all about thisbankruptcy lawyer and what he can do for you.