Debt Collection

As many Credit Slips readers will know, so-called "body attachments" allow a creditor to haul a judgment debtor into state court if the debtor fails to respond to court summonses to answer questions about the debtor's financial affairs. It is a highly coercive tactic and was originally intended as a last resort against a recalcitrant debtor. Today, it is an overused tactic that intimidates debtors who often understand only that they have been arrested because they have an unpaid debt.

Jeff Horwitz at the American Banker has been doing some great reporting on abusive debt collection practices in the credit card industry. Joe Nocera's column took up the subject today. Robo-signing and other abuses have been a problem for a while with credit card debt collections, and Horwitz and Nocera do a public service by drawing attention to the problems.

The LA Times did a three-part series this fall on what they call "Buy Here Pay Here" car dealerships. (Here is Part One, Part Two, and Part Three).

As Alan White reported recently, the Uniform Law Commission in the U.S. has named a committee to consider the need for and feasibility of proposing a uniform foreclosure act and to report back to the ULC by early 2012.