Princess Leia Sues Bank for Abusive Debt Collection Tactics
Debt Wars Episode Nine
Not so long ago, in a galaxy really, really close to this one, Princess Leia got into trouble financially with Horsey Wagon Bank. After a series of nasty collection calls she sued them for their bad collection practices.
Of course, her name isn’t really Princess Leia, but the settlement with Horsey Wagon is confidential, so I can’t use real names. Horsey Wagon isn’t even the name of a real bank. (Suprise!) It’s a fictitious name that I made up so you won’t ever be able to guess the actual bank that I’m talking about. Not even if you stare, cross-eyed, at their stagecoach logo for several hours.
Leia Got a Credit Card
A number of years ago Leia, who was in her seventies, received a credit card from Horsey Wagon Bank. Her house was falling down and needed some repairs, so Leia used her available Horsey Wagon credit to get some support beams and hire someone to fix part of the house where the wood had rotted. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to make the payments on the card and she fell behind. The next thing she knew, she started to get collection calls.
Insider knowledge: Having dealt with Horsey Wagon many times on behalf of various clients, I can say that their collection tactics are quite offensive, and their individual collectors rank right up there with pond scum. A good number of debt collectors who work for collection agencies are abusive, but most bank employees keep their collection practices polite. Not Horsey Wagon.
The Collection Calls
So Leia, who was somewhat cantankerous herself, was getting calls, primarily from Robert DeFrondville. Now that’s not his real name. It’s not even his fictitious collector name. (Yes, most collectors use fictitious names.) Robert had been giving a Leia a hard time for weeks.
One day he called her and she thought she could hear other Horsey Wagon collectors talking in the background.
Robert: “Now Leia, we’ve spoken several times and I have to say I’m pretty disappointed. I know you’re old and barely getting by, but only a real loser doesn’t pay their bills. You haven’t made a payment in months. And I’m getting tired of having to call you every day. Don’t you have any money you can give me?”
Leia: “I hear other people. Do you have me on speaker phone?”
Robert: “No. Of course not!”
Leia: “OK, that’s good. I’m really sorry, Robert. I have a little bit saved, but my furnace is about twenty years old, and it’s not working right. I think I need to get a new one.”
Robert: “But you owe money to Horsey Wagon. Don’t you believe in keeping your agreements and paying your debts?”
Leia: “Of course I do. I just don’t have any money. If I give you my money then I don’t have enough for food and I can’t get my furnace fixed. Surely you can understand that?”
Robert: “No, I can’t. If it was me, I’d find a way to make some money. Don’t you have any skills? Get a job at Burger King.”
Leia: “Robert, I’m seventy-six. No-one is going to hire me.”
Robert: “Well, if it was me, I’d wrap myself in a blanket and eat cat food, if that’s what it took.”
Leia hears laughter and it sounds like it is coming from multiple people in the background.
Leia: “You have me on speaker phone!!”
Robert:” No. I don’t!”
Leia: “You do. I can hear them laughing at me.”
Robert: (sotto voce to the other collectors in the room) “I have her wound up now!!”
Leia hears more laughter.
Leia: “You do. You have me on speaker. This is so embarrassing. I can’t believe you’d do such a thing. That’s awful!”
Robert: “Now Leia, I think you’re going a little bit mental on me here” (more laughter in the background.) “What you need to do is to figure out how you are going to pay me. I don’t like to have to call you and make you feel bad, but my job is to collect the money you owe Horsey Wagon and I can’t stop calling you until you’ve paid.”
Warning to my readers–
The next several lines are pretty disturbing. I often take an unserious approach to what I am writing about, but not here. This next part is disturbing and serious, and there is nothing humorous about it.
Leia: “I can’t believe how mean you are. You’ve embarrassed and humiliated me and I’m considering taking my own life because of you.”
Robert: “What? You would seriously consider offing yourself?”
Leia: “Yes. You keep calling me and calling me. I just want it to end.”
Robert: “You can’t kill yourself. That’s not right.”
Leia: “Thank you. At least you have some sense of compassion.”
Robert: “Of course. You can’t kill yourself, Leia. If you did, how would you ever pay me?”
Leia heard Robert and other people in the background, laughing. Then Robert hung up.
The Consequence of Leia’s Threat
An hour later someone was knocking on Leia’s door. Robert had called the police and reported that Leia was suicidal, so the police had come to take her in for observation.
Now the good thing is, Leia wasn’t really suicidal. She just wanted Robert to leave her alone and thought a suicide threat would do the job. That’s what she told the police, and that’s what she told her attorneys as they were preparing the lawsuit against Horsey Wagon. But, even so, she had to spend the night in custody, under observation, and against her will, until she was released twenty-four hours later.
A Bill from the City for Involuntary Incarceration
And, to add insult to injury, a few days after she got home Leia received a hefty bill from the city charging her for her involuntary stay in their mental health facility. After she got the bill she called Robert DeFrondville to complain. Robert then put her on speaker phone and she could hear the other collectors laughing as Robert said to her:
Robert: “Leia. I’m sorry I had to take action, but it was for your own good. I was very concerned about your well being. You threatened to kill yourself and our policy manual is very clear–if a collectee becomes suicidal, it is the collector’s duty to notify the police so they can take appropriate action. We can’t let anything happen to the people who owe us money. If we did, we’d never get paid”
Leia: “But now I owe the city for my involuntary commitment as well as owing money to Horsey Wagon. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Robert: “Well, it’s clear to me what you need to do. You need to pay Horsey Wagon. That hasn’t changed. But then, after you’ve paid us, you’ll have to pay the city. I guess that furnace will have to wait.” Leia yelled at him for saying this, and he hung up laughing.
Happy Ending
Fortunately, our story has a happy ending, and the ending is true. Instead of paying Horsey Wagon the $5000 she owed them, Leia called hired an attorney who sued them for abusive debt collection practices on her behalf. As part of the resolution of that lawsuit, Horsey Wagon Bank had to agree to make changes to their debt collection policies, and that is a win for everyone that they call to collect money from. They also had to “pony up” a decent amount of money for Leia in settlement of her claims.
There are Laws that Protect Consumers
There are both state and federal laws that protect people from abusive debt collection tactics. The best case scenario is that you are able to find a way to pay your bills. But whether you can or not, don’t let collection agents insult you or speak to you in a belittling manner, or allow them to threaten or intimidate you.
You have rights, and there are always attorneys willing to help in such a situation. Consumer attorneys who sue debt collectors usually get paid on a contingency basis, meaning that they get paid from the proceeds of the lawsuit, rather than directly by you.
So be like Leia. Fight back against the collectors of the dark side. Stay strong . . . and may the force be with you.
In an earlier life Ris Allison managed a successful law practice that specialized in bankruptcy, debt settlement, tax debt, and consumer litigation. Ris is not a lawyer, not even on TV. Follow Ris to get more information concerning your questions about debt, the related problems it can cause, and what you can do about it.
