Houston, TX (PRWEB) April 30, 2008 - Houston-based bankruptcy and consumer law firm Busby & Associates warns consumers about an increasingly growing debt collection practice involving the purchase of "zombie" debts and aggressive attempts to collect.
"This is a real problem, with real implications for people," stated Eric Southward, a Busby & Associates attorney.
Southward went on to explain that large national debt buyers are purchasing old debts and hiring collection agencies to collect on them. Consumers are receiving harassing phone calls about debt they didn't even know they owed, referred to as "zombie" debts. They are referred to as zombie debts, because they have remained dormant for many years and then reappear to haunt the debtor.
"The debt collectors are very aggressive and most consumers don't know their rights. They are unaware that they can request proof of that debt. They also don't know that debt collectors have rules they must follow when collecting a debt," added Southward.
Southward stated that to make matters worse many of the debt buyers are suing consumers for these zombie debts. Regardless of the fact that in Texas a consumer cannot be sued for a debt that has gone unpaid for more than four years, uninformed consumers are paying unnecessary lawsuit judgments.
"There are consumer laws out there designed to protect consumers, but most people are unaware of them. These consumer laws include the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Texas Debt Collection Act (TDCA), and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA)," added Southward.
In an ongoing effort to better educate the public Busby & Associates sent Attorney Eric Southward to a FDCPA boot camp in Nashville, Tennessee last month. The intensive three-day camp covered how to use the FDCPA and other consumer laws to protect consumers, who are being harassed by debt collectors and sued by zombie debt buyers.
"It really opened my eyes," Southward says of the class. "There were some of the worst examples of abusive debt collection tactics I had ever heard in my life." Southward said it surprised him that even with the State and Federal regulations designed to prevent these kinds of abuses that debt collectors continue to violate the law. And according to Southward, it has only gotten worse with national debt buyers purchasing these old debt accounts.
Busby & Associates is a full-service consumer law firm that provides bankruptcy, debt settlement, and debt negotiation services as well as debt defense representation and actions against debt collectors. To further help consumers understand their rights, Busby & Associates recently published a website article about the top ten things consumers need to know regarding debt collection. The article currently posted on the firm's website offers consumers a quick overview of what debt collectors can and cannot do.
To learn more about Texas debt collection practices, read the top ten article, or to schedule a consultation call 1-866-912-9832. Or, log onto www.busby-lee.com today.
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