June 2, 2011
A new state law that prohibits debt collectors from cursing and threatening improper legal action against debtors is aimed at punishing “scum bags,” said a Tulsa man who made and lost a fortune in the business.
Bill Bartmann, who founded a Tulsa debt collection company that made him a billionaire before its collapse, said he lobbied hard for passage of Senate Bill 398. It was adopted unanimously.
The measure makes it illegal for debt collectors to threaten a debtor with a lawsuit after the debt’s statute of limitations has passed, or to use “obscene or profane language” to threaten a debtor. The law also expands the state’s “no-call” list to include texts unless a consumer has opted in for such messages.
Bartmann last year resurrected his debt-collection business, under the name CFS II.
His original company, Commercial Financial Services Inc., collapsed in 1999 amid allegations company executives inflated performance. His former partner was convicted of fraud; Bartmann was acquitted.
Jennifer Wallis, vice president of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Central Oklahoma, said she supports the new law. Clients of her nonprofit agency have complained about abusive calls from debt collectors, Wallis said.
“They call repeatedly, sometimes up to 30 times a day,” she said. “Excessively calling someone to the point they have to change their cellphone number.”
To be effective, the new law must be enforced, and authorities “need to make sure it has teeth,” she said.
Many consumers who owe debts give in to high-pressure tactics because they don’t know their rights, Wallis said. Most debtors want to pay what they owe, but lack the means to do so, she said.
“For anyone getting called by a collector, the first thing they should ask is to provide proof that they owe that debt,” Wallis said.
The new law, Bartmann said, won’t help his company. “There are times when things are not necessarily in your business’ best interest, but it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “We’re practicing what we preach. We did this for 13 years, and never sued anyone — ever.”
Bartmann was in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, lobbying members of Congress to boost penalties for violations of federal debt collection laws.
“If somebody is guilty of a violation, let’s make the penalty substantial enough that they will remember it,” he said.
A new state law that prohibits debt collectors from cursing and threatening improper legal action against debtors is aimed at punishing “scum bags,” said a Tulsa man who made and lost a fortune in the business.
Bill Bartmann, who founded a Tulsa debt collection company that made him a billionaire before its collapse, said he lobbied hard for passage of Senate Bill 398. It was adopted unanimously.
The measure makes it illegal for debt collectors to threaten a debtor with a lawsuit after the debt’s statute of limitations has passed, or to use “obscene or profane language” to threaten a debtor. The law also expands the state’s “no-call” list to include texts unless a consumer has opted in for such messages.
Bartmann last year resurrected his debt-collection business, under the name CFS II.
His original company, Commercial Financial Services Inc., collapsed in 1999 amid allegations company executives inflated performance. His former partner was convicted of fraud; Bartmann was acquitted.
Jennifer Wallis, vice president of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Central Oklahoma, said she supports the new law. Clients of her nonprofit agency have complained about abusive calls from debt collectors, Wallis said.
“They call repeatedly, sometimes up to 30 times a day,” she said. “Excessively calling someone to the point they have to change their cellphone number.”
To be effective, the new law must be enforced, and authorities “need to make sure it has teeth,” she said.
Many consumers who owe debts give in to high-pressure tactics because they don’t know their rights, Wallis said. Most debtors want to pay what they owe, but lack the means to do so, she said.
“For anyone getting called by a collector, the first thing they should ask is to provide proof that they owe that debt,” Wallis said.
The new law, Bartmann said, won’t help his company. “There are times when things are not necessarily in your business’ best interest, but it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “We’re practicing what we preach. We did this for 13 years, and never sued anyone — ever.”
Bartmann was in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, lobbying members of Congress to boost penalties for violations of federal debt collection laws.
“If somebody is guilty of a violation, let’s make the penalty substantial enough that they will remember it,” he said.
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