John Oliver crushes Television Giveaway History last night

[ftpjesus]

John Oliver forgave nearly $15 million in medical debt — beating that time Oprah Winfrey bestowed $8 million in cars — in what appears to be the largest giveaway in television history.

The “Last Week Tonight” host took aim Sunday night at shady companies that buy up debt from collection agencies and then sell off the debtors’ personal information to third parties as they attempt to collect the money that’s owed.

Oliver and his producers demonstrated just how easy it is to set up one of those debt-buying agencies by setting up one themselves and then buying $14,922261.76 in debt for less than $60,000.

“It was disturbingly easy,” Oliver said.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/06/fck-...r-tv-giveaway/

[LarryLaffer]

John Olliver is a saint.

one Mississippi, two mississippi, YOU'RE NOT MY DAD!

[thesparten]

It's always a conservative than can cross the isle against his ideology and say that makes sense but

U rarely if ever will see a libtard do that becouse the Borg hive mentally of those pea pod body snatchers of a cult arnt capable.

[BetCheckBet]

From the article

The debt Oliver bought was technically out-of-statute, meaning creditors could not actively collect the money owed because the obligation had passed the statute of limitations,


The above explains why it was so cheap.

[ftpjesus]

From the article

The debt Oliver bought was technically out-of-statute, meaning creditors could not actively collect the money owed because the obligation had passed the statute of limitations,


The above explains why it was so cheap.

Valid point but Olivers point in the whole thing is what a clusterfuck and scam the collections racket is.. Ive dealt with their bullshit before and threatened action in court against them for violations of FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) and FDCA (Fair Debt Collections Act). Most states debt can not be legally enforced through garnishment or lawsuit beyond 5 years and under the FCRA most debts can not be legally reported beyond 7 years (the exceptions being bankruptcies which are 10yr items, as well as tax and federal student loan debt which have no legal fall off clause or relief).

The biggest racket is these zombie/scavenger debt collectors will illegally restart the clock on debt which is out of guidelines and guess what its up to you to check your credit report and ensure the shit isn't there. If it is then you have to file with the big 3 credit agencies to have it removed via dispute.

I ran into this problem after I filed Chapter 7 back in 1997 shit kept coming up on my credit report that was charged off as far forward as mid 2000s when only the bankruptcy itself should've been reported.

[4Dragons]

Watched it yesterday.. brb, starting a debt collection agency and incorporating in Mississippi.

[Tellafriend]

From the article

The debt Oliver bought was technically out-of-statute, meaning creditors could not actively collect the money owed because the obligation had passed the statute of limitations,


The above explains why it was so cheap.

Valid point but Olivers point in the whole thing is what a clusterfuck and scam the collections racket is.. Ive dealt with their bullshit before and threatened action in court against them for violations of FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) and FDCA (Fair Debt Collections Act). Most states debt can not be legally enforced through garnishment or lawsuit beyond 5 years and under the FCRA most debts can not be legally reported beyond 7 years (the exceptions being bankruptcies which are 10yr items, as well as tax and federal student loan debt which have no legal fall off clause or relief).

The biggest racket is these zombie/scavenger debt collectors will illegally restart the clock on debt which is out of guidelines and guess what its up to you to check your credit report and ensure the shit isn't there. If it is then you have to file with the big 3 credit agencies to have it removed via dispute.

I ran into this problem after I filed Chapter 7 back in 1997 shit kept coming up on my credit report that was charged off as far forward as mid 2000s when only the bankruptcy itself should've been reported.

why did you file ch7? the deck go cold on you?

[Dan Druff]

From the article

The debt Oliver bought was technically out-of-statute, meaning creditors could not actively collect the money owed because the obligation had passed the statute of limitations,


The above explains why it was so cheap.

Yeah, so once again something on TV isn't what it appears to be.

They "forgave" debt already out of the statute of limitations. How generous!

I don't mind the sentiment, though. Collection agencies are generally scum. Mind you, they are often trying to squeeze money out of other scum, but many times these "debts" are incorrect or have some other issue, and the collection agent lies or threatens in order to get paid.

I've had the following fun experiences with collection agents:

- A collection agent from eBay (a third party hired by them) called to collect a small debt I owed. She reached my sister, because at the time I was sharing an eBay account with her. My sister texted me and asked what this was about. I told my sister that I just paid it earlier in the morning, directly to eBay. The woman told my sister, "Oh, I see that. The payment didn't go through. Your brother's credit card was no good. You need to pay me right now on your credit card, or your eBay account will be closed." She was lying. The payment DID go through, and she had no access to view my account anyway. My sister put her on hold and called me, and I told her she was being scammed. My sister went back to the woman, told her off, and hung up.

- A collection agent for the Los Angeles Court system called about a "debt" I owed for over $500. This was an actual debt which was reduced to $179 over 18 months earlier, which I had paid on the spot. I owed nothing further. I told them to check with the Los Angeles court. They told me that they do not check on these things, and would only accept an official letter stating the debt was satisfied (which you have to get in person), or they would keep calling me. I told her I lived in Las Vegas and couldn't travel 300 miles each way to get this stupid document. She told me that I had to pay the money immediately or she would get my license shut down and ruin my credit. Knowing she was bullshitting me, I told her (literally) to suck my dick. Shocked, she told me that I was violating the law by being obscene to her. I told her that I was violating no law, and that she didn't have to keep calling me if she didn't want to hear about sucking my dick. I told her that I would simply say "suck my dick" to anyone from her office who made future calls to me. She hung up on me, again claiming she was calling the police. I called the court, who told me that indeed I owed nothing, and the collection agency was both incorrect and powerless to do anything.

- A collection agency was harassing a girl I dated about a small amount of money (like $60) owed to a dentist. I told her not to agree to pay any "collection fees", and just to pay the principle. They collection agent told my girlfriend that the collection fee was the only money she would make on the whole thing, and that if only the principle was paid, she wouldn't get to eat. My girlfriend felt bad and was about to pay it, until I snatched the phone from her and took over. I told the collection agent that I was pissed about the manipulative lies, and was about to hang up and not pay a dime. I said, "You have one chance to accept full payment with zero fees, or I'm hanging up in 5 seconds and nobody is ever paying you." She meekly backed down and agreed.

- When a friend transferred me a phone number a few years ago, AT&T screwed up the billing and erroneously showed that he still owed money to them. AT&T didn't bother to tell me about this, and just sent it to collections, who called my friend and said that they were going to ruin his credit and get him prosecuted for fraud, unless he paid the $120 he "owed". My friend thought maybe I had just screwed something up, and he was terrified about the consequences of waiting to ask me about it before paying this collection agent. He gave his credit card, paid $120, and e-mailed me about it. I called AT&T, furious about the situation. They admitted that he never owed $120, and that they "made a mistake" by giving it to a collection agency instead of contacting someone first about the bill. Amazingly, they had no power to get this $120 from the collection agency! Instead, they agreed to send a check for $120 to my friend. I then demanded another $50 for my friend for the stress this put him through, and they agreed, cutting him a check for $170. My friend profusely thanked me.