In my own limited experience people who have defaulted on a loan or credit card are not in the slightest bit inclined to accept an offer from a collection company for a smaller amount. They walked away from one company and there is very little the loan company can do to them except harass.
I wonder how profitable a debt collection agency is?
My first wife worked in that industry (not personally as a debt collector) and the business model is very simple. Buy the debt from the original company for a tiny fraction of the original amount, then badger the debtor until they agree to pay something. If the debt is big enough, take the debtor to court. That usually shakes a settlement out of them.
It’s a high-volume, low-profit business, but when you’re buying debt for 1-5 cents on the dollar, and settling for 3-10 cents, the pennies eventually add up.
I think a lot of it has to do with how sleazy your are. If you have a reasonable set of morals, you’re going to lose. But if you just don’t care about anything, esp. laws on debt collection, then there’s money to be made.
Calling over and over and over to get people to pay a debt that is outside the statute of limitations without telling them that, no problem.
Debtor says “Don’t call me again.” You call again. Nevermind the law.
You call the debtor’s family and neighbors, no problem. Again, Nevermind the law.
Try to convince the person to pay just a token amount, e.g., 10 dollars without telling them that that resets the clock on the debt, no problem.
Calling people over a debt that had actually been paid off and refusing to acknowledge that, no problem. (The paperwork they get when they buy a debt is minimal. Oftentimes they can’t even say who the original debt was owed to.)
Etc.
Here’s an example of how bad they can get. One company called my SIL. They were trying to get her to pay off the debt her former son-in-law had racked up after the divorce. Nothing immoral or illegal there 
.
Well, it’s either profitable, or this industry is really good at getting new suckers to try thier hand at debt collection, because the industry doesn’t seem to be going away. I’m guessing it’s profitable. Just sleazy as fuck, though.
A woman with the same last name as me (not particularly common, like Jones or Smith, and not bizarre, like A9ch34~!) racked up a debt with … somewhere. I’m no relation to Nicole H, but somehow a debt collector saw my name in the phone book (this was early aughts when phone books still existed) and figured I knew her, or she lived in my home, or whatever. Multiple calls for her, per day. Hostile messages on my answering machine. Hostility on the other end of the line when I answered. And believe you me, they would. not. accept it when I told them Nicole H didn’t live there and I wasn’t related to her. At least one agent straight up accused me of lying and trying to cover for her.
FWIW, all of the openly-hostile debt collectors I dealt with were from when I lived in Illinois. Here in Missouri, I’ve gotten polite calls from debt collectors about, say, a bill that my insurance company didn’t pay fully. Absolutely no hostility at all. So either Missouri and Illinois have vastly different laws on debt collection (and truthfully, I’d expect Missouri’s laws to be less favorable to the consumer, not more), or something has changed at the national level between 2000s and now.
I changed my landline service to a different provider (back when landlines were a thing) and got allocated a different number (which was not what I asked for) and immediately started getting calls from a debt collector for the person who previously had that number.
I had those for years when I first moved into my current house and got a new phone number. Every six months to a year, it seems their debt got sold to a new collector, and they’d start calling.
I also get a spate of calls for a Jennifer something, not even close to my last name. I also assume it’s because the debt got sold. It’s been going on long enough that the statute of limations is well past.
Note that saying “I never heard of this person. Don’t call again.” wouldn’t faze anyone. And if I were to file a complaint, they could respond that the first statement means I am in no position to request the 2nd statement. I.e., only Jennifer can tell them to stop.
Debt collection companies file claims in court (often small claims court) and then when the person on the other end of that debt just ignores their debt notices, they get a default judgment which can be used to garnish wages.
Debt companies buy debt at times as low low as 1-3% the value of the debt, so even if they get 5-10% of people taking their offers (or getting garnished by a court) they make a profit.
I recieved my company-issued phone and its number nine years ago and I still get a call or two a month from vaious collection agencies or lawyers looking for “Jose”/“Joseph.” They were pretty frequent at first (4-5 a week), but after I started letting any unrecognized number go to voicemail, they tapered off.
I suspect “Joseph” may be a convicted felon, still fleeing some hot water, based on what I’ve gleaned over the years . . .
Tripler
I’m never going to answer those calls & put myself in the middle of this.
In my experience (with others, not me) I don’t know of anyone who was actually taken to court. One time a relative who had previously stayed here for a few months was delinquent on a motorcycle loan. The police came to my address to see if the bike was there. Fortunately my step son had done repo work and had advised me of the law. The only time the police can come on your property to look for a car or bike is if they have the vehicle in sight. Then they can go and read the VIN. They cannot search for it.
One thing I know a debt collector can do is to file some sort of a 1099 form for the balance, since if you did not pay it it is essentially income. But that is easily countered if the debtor is fairly low income and has no assets. I have no idea what the collection agency gets out of this, it just seems like sour grapes. Maybe the IRS gives them a finder fee.
A friend from college became quite wealthy in the debt collection business. Like others said - high volume. I never heard she was particularly unpleasant. Persistent yes, hostile no. Just get a bunch of judgments (often default) and attach and garnish what you can. Pretty much everyone in the chain just gets paid on percentages.
I did my share of collections and bankruptcy work on behalf of creditors. Not a really happy business, but can be quite profitable if done correctly.
But wouldn’t it be a civil matter, and not a criminal matter? If so, how/why did the police get involved?
As I recall the repo guy requested police presence.
I had somebody call me and threaten me with legal action over my ex-girlfriend owing exactly $527 in Victoria’s Secret credit card debt she never paid off.
We weren’t married, we never shared a house, it seems like they must have seen we dated at one point on Facebook and tracked me down via that.
It was also a REALLY short term legal action too, “If you don’t immediately pay within 24 hours we will get lawyers involved”, well good luck with that. After two phone calls they stopped calling.
many years ago I got dunned for a relatively small medical bill. When they called, I asked if they would represent me in my claim against the hospital since they owed me a slightly larger refund. I never heard from them again. 