Bankruptcy Lawyer | Why People Get Harassed More Than Others Pt. 2
Bankruptcy Lawyer | To give you an idea of the size of the debtor pool Experian tracks, their service allows collection companies who subscribe to their service to:
Access both noncredit and credit data sources, including information on more than 220 million credit-active consumers in the United States (emphasis added). That’s a lot of data on a lot of people.
Other Ways Collection Companies Become More Aggressive
Some of the credit reporting bureaus also offer services which alert debt collection companies to become more aggressive with an older delinquent account if there has been recent activity reflected in the consumer’s credit report that might indicate that the consumer may now have a greater ability to pay something. I see this all the time. What that means is if you try to obtain new credit-like a new credit card or car loan-your credit profile can be flagged for easy follow up by collectors. If you’re applying for a car loan, have recently moved, or some other event has occurred that created a change on your credit reports, there may be a presumption on behalf of collectors that you have an ability to repay what is often old, bad, debts. Thus, activity on your credit history can alert collectors to start contacting you, and the level of aggressive collection techniques correlates with your “collection score”.
The credit bureaus also offer “bankruptcy risk scores.” Although these are most often used by lenders at the time they are processing a request for credit to ascertain the likelihood of default and subsequent bankruptcy, they can also be used by creditors to ascertain the likelihood of bankruptcy filing — which would mean that the creditor will not get anything in most cases. That is to say that your probability of filing bankruptcy-based upon factors like level of debt, age of existing debt, your age, income, family size, etc.,-is quantified and used by lenders to make credit lending determinations. But it can also be used to determine how aggressive collectors should be in targeting you for collection efforts. Debtors with high bankruptcy risk scores can be pursued more aggressively that debtors with low scores because creditors know that for most bankruptcy filers, all of their debts are successfully discharged. If a collector believes a debtor is at a higher risk of filing bankruptcy, and that the debts owed to the creditor will most likely disappear as a result, that collection agency will raise their efforts to collect while they still can. I can’t tell you how many of my clients have called my offices in a panic because they were just told by a dent collector that their debts could not be discharged in bankruptcy.
How did the debt collector know to call just as my client was on the brink of filing bankruptcy? Now we know. Of course, filing for bankruptcy will enable a consumer to immediately stop all collection calls. Usually, consumers can totally discharge all credit card and other types of debt through bankruptcy.
Our office can assist you in determining whether bankruptcy is the right choice for you, and which chapter under the Bankruptcy Code would provide you with the most relief. To schedule a free consultation with a knowledgeable Bakersfield bankruptcy lawyer about filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kern County, please call our office today at 661-888-4335 .
