Today, the New York Times has an article about collecting debts from deceased people.
The article features DCM Services of Minneapolis and includes an interview with their CEO. DCM Services offers free yoga classes and massages to their collectors. I suppose after selling your soul all day collecting from the relatives of recently deceased, a little yoga or a neck rub can really lighten your spirit? There is also foosball in the break room and catered lunches twice per month. Sounds like pretty good work, so long as you don’t look in the mirror every day.
Other collection agencies that collect on dead people’s debts by contacting grieving relatives who often have no legal obligation to pay are:
- Weltman, Weinberg & Reis, a Cleveland law firm headed up by Scot Weltman
- Phillips & Cohen Associates of Westampton, N.J with Adam Cohen as chief executive. Incidentally, their collectors are trained in all 5 stage of grief, presumably to better take advantage of each stage.
- DCM Services of Minneapolis with chief executive, Steven Farsht arranging yoga and massages for those who pry money from the dead’s relatives.
It’s amazing to me that this is allowed to exist under Federal Law and FDCPA. At the very least there should be some upfront disclosures that notify the deceased’s relatives of the fact that, in almost every state, there is absolutely no obligation of a surviving relative to assume the deceased’s debts. For these debt collectors prey on grief or the idea that the deceased will rest in peace if their credit card debt are taken care of is really about as low as it gets.
What is surprising is how delusional the executives of these collection agencies, law firms or ambulance chasers (you take your pick) are. The fact that three CEO’s would give interviews to the New York Times and have the nerve to discuss their yoga classes or training in the 5 stages of grief is beyond me. Do they really think anyone in their right mind would view this as ethical or even tolerable behavior? I hope they get kicked out of their country clubs for this.
However, what’s even worse to me is the tone the New York Times takes in this article. Not only do they not present an outraged viewpoint, they seem to spin the massages and free lunches in a positive light. They even point out how these agencies refer angry customers to counselors and then call them again in a week when they’ve been “counseled” without so much as pointing out what a racket this is.
Shame on you New York Times and DCM Services.
UPDATE: US Senator Charles Schumer of New York has called for a federal investigation into the collection practices featured in the New York Times article.
Tags: Collection Agencies, Debt Collectors, Deceased Debt, FDCPA, New York Times
