This is the latest outrage in debt collection

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Overstating a debtor's balance, also called "overbiffing," is the latest outrage in unfair debt collection.

In a recent case, regulators allege a New York debt collector may have tricked thousands of consumers into paying far more than they actually owed by fraudulently inflating consumer balances and using profane, abusive and illegal tactics to collect the fabricated bills. The term is called "overbiffing" because the scammers overstate a person's "balance in full," which is sometimes shortened to BIF.

Slapping a temporary restraining order on a half-dozen companies affiliated with a Buffalo debt collector named Robert Heidenreich, also known as "Bobby Rich," regulators maintain that Heindenreich's bill collectors chronicled just how much they "overbiffed" by using forms showing the actual balance due as well as the inflated amount that they told consumers was owed.

In many cases, this false "balance given" was hundreds, even thousands, of dollars more than the consumer actually owed.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/this-is-the-latest-outrage-in-debt-collection/ar-BBPmPuW?li=BBnbfcN

[msongs]

1. no court judgement then no collection. these ppl are scammers. nt

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Thought Bobby Rich was shut down

and barred from any Financial activities.

[gopiscrap]

3. these fuckers should go to jail

and all debt collectors should be shunned by society

[Johnny2X2X]

4. When you are poor everything is a scam

I've written about scam sub prime car loans and the scammers that sell them, payday loan companies, for profit online or technical colleges, and even the cost of groceries for the poor. Fair terms for contracts are not enforced. And debt collectors are a scam too, have been for a long time.

No one is looking out for consumers any more.

[Adrahil]

5. Insist on documnetation.

The law is clear.. a debt collector must provide documnetation of a valid debt or drop their claim. I had debt collector claim i owed $1800 for a medical bill. I knew there was no outstanding debt. I insisted on documentation. It took a while, but they finally sent me a sheet of paper... which said my owed balance was $0. Still... they tried get me to send them a check. I laughed at them and said they needed to establish a valid debt or quit their claim. They said they would contact the hospital for documentation, and plave the claim in dispute. Haven’t heard from them since.

[Progressive Law]

6. During law school, I interviewed at a small firm that does debt collection.

I had zero intention of accepting the internship position if offered. I just wanted to hone my job interview skills at a real interview. After some routine questions, the attorney asked a hypothetical question regarding intentional billing discrepancies. I replied that if the managing attorney failed to correct such discrepancies, it would be my ethical duty to report such activity to the Department of Consumer Affairs and other consumer protection agencies.. The interview ended right there. Never heard back from them.