Help Us Spread the Word!!

November 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

With all the recent news of debt collection abuse reporting going up, it’s our time to make this a national priority and get our voices heard. I can’t do this alone, and I need you help. We’ve created a “Spread The Word” page on my website and would love it if you could travel over there and help get the word out about debt collection abuse and reform.

 

How can you spread the word?

–Find your Senators or Congress person through the easy pages we’ve linked to. Either send them an email or contact them through Twitter to let them know your feelings about reforming the debt collection industry.

–Tweet out some of our pre-written tweets so that people will see that you’ve signed the petition and know that they should sign it too.

–Spread the word through Facebook by becoming a fan of the Bill Bartmann Facebook page and adding the link to the petition to your own Facebook profile.

–Share the link to the petition through your LinkedIn profile so your connections can know how they can help in this effort as well.

 

So what are you waiting for? If you haven’t signed the petition yet, sign it today, and then click here to help us spread the word!

Bill

Hi, I'm Bill Bartmann and I am on a mission to reform the debt collection industry in America. Please join with me as we bring a petition to Washington D.C., and make Congress close all the legal loopholes in debt collection practices. It's time to stop these debt collection abuses and stop these criminals. Join with me! Sign the petition today! http://stopthesecriminals.com/petition

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Filed Under: Bartmann, Debt Collection

Debt Collection Complaints Rise

November 21, 2011 By 3 Comments

 

We’ve known about it for a while. We’ve been trying to get the word out to Washington and your representatives in your state capitals as well. Debt collection abuses are illegal and on the rise. This past week, ABC News put together a story about how the complaints of these abuses were also on the rise. This is a good thing! The more we report these abuses and the more we stand up for our rights not to be harassed and abused by debt collectors, the faster we’ll see change.

Join us as we bring a voice to those who have been harassed and threatened by debt collectors. Sign our petition and we’ll work to stop these criminals for good.

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Bill

Hi, I'm Bill Bartmann and I am on a mission to reform the debt collection industry in America. Please join with me as we bring a petition to Washington D.C., and make Congress close all the legal loopholes in debt collection practices. It's time to stop these debt collection abuses and stop these criminals. Join with me! Sign the petition today! http://stopthesecriminals.com/petition

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Filed Under: Bartmann, Debt Collection

Have a Debt Collection Story?

November 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

If you’ve been the victim of illegal harassment practices or threatening phone calls by debt collectors, we want to hear from you. Do you know someone who has also been the victim of these things?  It’s not fair what these criminals are doing to you and your family and we want to make sure they don’t do it again. We want to bring light to your stories and make sure that the people who can change these laws hear from you.

 

How can you share your story?

Here’s how:

  • Call our Collection Abuse Hot Line at   1-877-906-2455    any time, 24 hours a day. It’s an automated system which will give you the opportunity to record your story. (No person will answer the phone.)
  • Send us an email at Share@StopTheseCriminals.com
  • Write us a letter and send it to:
StopTheseCriminals.com
Debt Collection Story
2488 E 81st Suite 600
Tulsa, OK 74137
  • Send us a video: If you’d like to make a video testimonial of what you or your family went through after dealing with debt collection harassment, film it and send it to us at billbartmann123@gmail.com.
What else can you do? Sign our petition today to bring to Washington to help stop these criminals. 

Bill

Hi, I'm Bill Bartmann and I am on a mission to reform the debt collection industry in America. Please join with me as we bring a petition to Washington D.C., and make Congress close all the legal loopholes in debt collection practices. It's time to stop these debt collection abuses and stop these criminals. Join with me! Sign the petition today! http://stopthesecriminals.com/petition

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Filed Under: Bartmann, Debt Collection

Contact Your Government Representatives: It’s Your Duty

November 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

We’re going to spend the next couple of blogs talking about the importance of contacting your representatives. We all know that these people are supposed to be working on our behalf, but do we make sure to let them know what that behalf is? The people we elect to go to Washington D.C. or your state capitals were elected to go there and speak on your behalf. Let them know what you feel is important.

If you, like me, have experienced harassing phone calls, voice messages, and other illegal debt collection practices by debt collectors, you need to let your government representatives know about this and that they move to stop it.

How can they stop it?

First of all, your state justice department can investigate some of these agencies (as has been done recently in California and Georgia) engaging in illegal debt collection activities and stop them. They need to know what is going on.

Second of all, you can join with me to get Congress to close the loopholes in the debt collection process. Too many holes in the laws make it easier for agencies to get away with harassing acts that only hurt American families who have fallen on hard times. By spreading the word and signing my petition, we can go to Washington and tell them that the American people have spoken and want changes. I am prepared and eager to do that. I just need your help. What changes, exactly? Here is what I want to change with this debt collection reform petition:

We hereby petition Congress to amend the current debt-collection rules by adding the following provisions:

  1. Increase the penalty for violations of debt-collection rules from the current $1,000 to $10,000 for each violation.
  2. Ban all collection activities on debt that is older than the relevant statute of limitations.
  3. Raise the requirements necessary to file a lawsuit on credit-card debt.
  4. Require collection agencies to provide clear and understandable history of debt.
  5. Require all collection agencies to be licensed.
  6. Require all collectors to be licensed.
  7. Require an annual compliance audit for all collection agencies.
  8. Allow consumers to record telephone calls from collection agencies.

 

In our next blog, we will give you even more information to make it easier to contact your Senators, Congress-person, and other state officials about debt collection and other pressing issues they need to be talking about on your behalf.

Remember, don’t be intimidated. These people work for YOU!

 

Bill

Hi, I'm Bill Bartmann and I am on a mission to reform the debt collection industry in America. Please join with me as we bring a petition to Washington D.C., and make Congress close all the legal loopholes in debt collection practices. It's time to stop these debt collection abuses and stop these criminals. Join with me! Sign the petition today! http://stopthesecriminals.com/petition

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Filed Under: Bartmann, Debt, Debt Collection

Debt Collection and Social Media

November 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

It is the job of debt collectors to try and track down borrowers to make them pay back the debts that they owe.

If they cannot get a hold of the person who owes them the money, they sometimes try to contact family members to try and get the money they are owed. This is commonly known in the debt collection world. With the massive spread and popularity of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, some debt collectors are turning to these databases of information to try and find the family members and friends of the people owing the debts.

A recent Forbes article came out talking about how this form of outreach to family members of the person owing the debts has started to pick up popularity in the United States and the United Kingdom.

In the U.K. there have been recent changes to the debt collection guidelines in order to encompass these new forms of communication. The article puts it best -

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has updated its guidelines for debt collectors for the first time since 2006, in part to include the advent of social networking and its use as a tool for tracking–or even harassing–people.

The OFT now says debt collectors must not post messages on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, “in a way that might potentially reveal that an identifiable person is being pursued for the repayment of a debt.”

Debt collectors aren’t allowed to discuss a person’s debt with anyone other than the borrower their spouse and lawyer, and the same applies in the U.S. under Federal Trade Commission rules.

In the U.S., The Federal Trade Commission has also taken up this issue. This past April, they held a workshop bringing together representatives from the government, collections industry and consumer groups. These groups discussed the impact of new technologies on the collections process, such as mobile telephones, email and social media.

Next, the FTC will form a group to specifically address concerns about social media and hopefully put together guidelines for debt collectors so they know what they legally can and cannot do on these social platforms.

This, my friends, is why we need to reform the debt collection laws. There are so many holes in the laws, that these types of collection practices happen and are not checked. This is why I am working to change the system and this is why I need your help.

Sign our petition today and spread the word. I want to take this petition to Washington and make sure debt collectors have clear guidelines as to what they can and cannot do. More than that,

I want to help protect American families who have fallen on hard times. Together, we can do this.

Bill

Hi, I'm Bill Bartmann and I am on a mission to reform the debt collection industry in America. Please join with me as we bring a petition to Washington D.C., and make Congress close all the legal loopholes in debt collection practices. It's time to stop these debt collection abuses and stop these criminals. Join with me! Sign the petition today! http://stopthesecriminals.com/petition

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Filed Under: Bartmann, Debt Collection

CFS II Accepted Into Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program

November 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

Just a note about what else we’re doing down in Oklahoma when we’re not out meeting with legislators and attorneys general across the country. My new business, CFS II, has been expanding and offering a projected 10,000 jobs over the next three years. As of yesterday, we also announced our acceptance in the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program through the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. Here’s a copy of the full release.


Here’s an excerpt from our news release that touches on my other efforts to reform the debt collection industry at the same time:

The architect behind CFS II’s expansion is Bill Bartmann: entrepreneur — political activist — consumer advocate. “The debt collection industry has really turned into a nasty business and needs to be turned on its ear,” said Bartmann. Recently, he launched campaigns on both the national and state levels to reform the collection of consumer debts by debt buyers called “Stop These Criminals.”

Bartmann also addresses the abuse in the industry in his recent book, Out of Control: Cases of Debt-Collection Abuse in America And What We Can Do About It. The book is available on Amazon, and Bartmann is donating all proceeds to the National Consumer Law Center.

In Oklahoma, Bartmann was instrumental in helping pass new legislation protecting citizens from unethical practices. SB 368 was approved by the legislature and signed by Governor Fallin this past summer. In the next legislative session, he is hoping to have introduced a comprehensive proposal to govern all facets of the debt buying business.

“There is nothing wrong with asking people to pay their bills. They ought to pay their bills. But the reality is that no one just decides they are going to cheat the credit card company out of their money,” said Bartmann. “The drivers of credit problems are job loss, an illness in the family or a breakup of the family.” “They may owe the money, but they certainly don’t deserve to be cussed, abused, threatened and lied to. It is just plain wrong, and we can do better as an industry.”

Bartmann has already met with officials of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission and a series of national and local legislators and state attorneys general to introduce and advance his plan for radical reform of the industry.

“There are many companies out there making a lot of money by cutting corners and treating consumers badly,” concludes Bartmann. “I am going to prove that one can do well by doing right by treating people with dignity and respect.”

Bill

Hi, I'm Bill Bartmann and I am on a mission to reform the debt collection industry in America. Please join with me as we bring a petition to Washington D.C., and make Congress close all the legal loopholes in debt collection practices. It's time to stop these debt collection abuses and stop these criminals. Join with me! Sign the petition today! http://stopthesecriminals.com/petition

More Posts - Website

Filed Under: Bartmann, Debt Collection