Let’s get down to brass tacks. Mr. Silverthorn is in the business of
representing consumers. He makes his living either by representing clients on an
hourly rate or a percentage of settlements, but his interests lie in having
consumers retain him. Myself, I am in the business of representing
creditors. My company makes its money by
successfully collecting outstanding accounts from debtors. Technically we are both working at cross
purposes, so we are bound to have a difference of opinion or two. But I will be honest, neither Mr.
Silverthorn’s book, nor my blog are necessarily the best options for consumer
advice. But encouraging consumers to explore
options and reading all the advice available is certainly a good start.
I agree with Mr. Silverthorn when he says that you must
follow a professional career that lets you sleep well at night. I have briefly worked at collection agencies
I was appalled at their management styles or collection tactics allowed. I currently work with a company that allows
me to ensure our collection staff adhere to a code of ethics and do not use
vulgarity, make false claims, or hound a debtor over and over after they have
indicated they will not pay. I am
grateful that I have the latitude to build a positive work environment – many
people out there are simply looking for work, and work as collectors at a
collection agency that is a “sweat shop”.
No one goes to ‘Bill Collector School’ for their ‘Bill
Collector Diploma’. Almost everyone
ends up in the collection industry by accident.
Many do not last, either due to management failing to train and work
with their staff, or because their personality does not allow them to
effectively work as a collection agent. I’m
sure that Mr. Silverthorn has worked with many various collectors of differing
backgrounds, and some worked well within the laws, and some who flagrantly
defied the boundaries of our profession.
On to the book – it is clear to me that Mr. Silverthorn has been
exposed to collection agents that have lied, taken pleasure in having debtors
put their furniture on the lawn “for the sheriff to pick up for repossession”,
and other unsavoury tactics. Some of his
advice likely comes from exposure to this sort of mentality, and I would debate
some of his advice given in his book.
The Bad
The tactics for avoiding a debt that Mr. Silverthorn lays
out may work, if your account is not well managed by a large collection agency,
is handled by a poorly trained or inexperienced collection agent, or they do
not maintain a membership with the credit bureau or a paralegal or lawyer to
undertake legal action. However, there
are some items of advice I believe are dangerous to the consumer.
Lying to the Collection Agency
I have a very strong reaction to Mr. Silverthorn stating in
his Forward of the book that he had a change of heart, and sleeps better at
night following a more ethical path of representing consumers, and at the same
time encouraging consumers who read his book to be deceitful and lie to collection
agencies! While this strikes me as possibly
hypocritical, it can also horribly backfire on the consumer.
I disagree with telling the collection agency you are not
the debtor, when you actually are. For
any experienced collector, this will not stop calls, and will increase any
level of antagonism you may be suffering, as you have proven to the collector
that you are dishonest. If your
telephone number is registered to you or your spouse, your home is on title to
you or your spouse, the collector and/or creditor has personal references you
have provided, or the agency has a copy of your application or credit bureau to
prove you have lied, this is a serious misstep, and the calls to you may resume
almost immediately.
My advice? If you
want calls to stop, tell the collection agency you are not paying. If you can live with the consequences of the
credit bureau or potential legal action, don’t dance around the issue at hand
which is foremost in the collector’s mind: are you paying, or not?
In general, most collectors spend at least 50% of their time
reaching out to consumers who are avoiding contact. They spend 30% of their time performing
investigation or skip-trace work, and only 20% of their time speaking to
consumers regarding their accounts. From
the perspective of a collection agent, they are often yelled at or treated
poorly by consumers who are emotionally distraught over their finances. They are often lied to by people trying to
hide from their debt. They receive
promises of payment that never happen. They
don’t need to give much time or focus to the people meeting their arrangements
or offering to pay. They spend the bulk
of their time chasing down broken promises and investigating files that are
questionable. Ultimately, they are
making decisions on each file they work each day: is this file paying or not? Do not put yourself in a category of someone
who has lied, as this makes you someone who should pay, but is uncooperative. This will bring extra focus to your file,
which is the exact opposite of what you are attempting to achieve.
Another piece of advice is screening your calls with another
person. I have to tell you, one of the
most depressing things I have ever seen, and it happens all the time, is a
debtor using their spouse or small children to screen calls from collection
agents and lie that their parents aren’t home, their spouse is in the shower
every time there is a call, or claiming that they have the wrong number. Why would you do this? If you are scared of speaking directly to the
collection agent, write them a letter or an email. A professional collector is
trying to reach you to make you aware of your debt, and determine whether you
will pay or not. The consequences of
affecting your credit rating or starting legal action will happen whether you
take the call or not. It’s possible if
you take the call the agency will give you alternatives to pay (ie. settlement,
payment arrangements, credit counselling, consolidation loans) that you would
not have had previously. Sticking your
head in the sand is not going to make your situation better.
If you are confronted by a belligerent, unprofessional, or
unreasonable collector that you cannot deal with, by all means speak to their
supervisor, write a letter to the agency, or refuse their calls. But until that point, I would urge you to
attempt to deal with your debts and obligations in an honest, forthright
manner.
Hiding Your Money
While some of the advice in this book on how to avoid being
sued is accurate, I saw one area that immediately jumped out at me as flawed
information. I have personally engaged
in hundreds of small claims court actions, either directly or through a
paralegal employed by my company, and hiding your money is not a good strategy,
as one thing that is not mentioned in detail in the book is the Judgment Debtor
Exam.
First, if you have a judgment against you, it is enforceable
for ten years, and renewable for a further ten.
That’s a long time to be hiding. If
a creditor receives a judgment against you, and they do not have an immediate
method to execute the judgment (such as a wage garnishment), they can have you
summoned to a judgment debtor examination, where they meet with you and an officer
of the court, and they can ask many supervised questions regarding your
financial situation, and demand copies of your bank statements, paystubs,
income tax returns, and more. Failure to
answer these questions, provide documentation promptly, or appear for the
Examination can result in a contempt of court order, which can carry a bench
warrant for arrest, in extreme cases.
Conclusion
Thus ends my three-part review of The Wolf At The Door. You will note that while this book is against
collection agencies on the whole, I personally had more positives than negatives
to say about his book.
Mr. Silverthorn is receiving a lot of media attention
lately, and I think that through media awareness, he may end up being
responsible for changes or reform in the collection industry. I don’t see that as a bad thing at all. I started in this business over twenty years
ago, when collectors smoked at their desk, threatened the sheriff’s office to
come and deliver legal action, issued five to seven letters per debtor account,
computers were new to the collection industry, and there was no consumer
awareness or advocacy. That time is long
gone. I would welcome a number of reforms
in our industry, and it can only start when someone starts a discussion. Mr. Silverthorn’s book is an excellent
starting point.
I certainly hope that should this review come to Mr.
Silverthorn’s attention, that he can appreciate my differing viewpoint and
experiences, and he takes my review of his work kindly. I wish him all the best in his professional
pursuits, and I wonder if there will be another book forthcoming...
Blair Wettlaufer
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