ACA International, the trade group representing collection agencies and companies in the ARM industry, has issued a stirring rebuke to a report that the American Civil Liberties Union published last week that claimed collection agencies were using the legal system to create a modern day version of debtor’s prisons.
“Put simply,” ACA wrote in its statement, “the ACLU’s harrowing characterization of modern-day debtor’s prisons, while certainly disturbing, does not exist.”
Calling the ACLU’s report “misguided,” and “heavily misleading,” ACA went to great lengths to explain how debt collectors can not put consumers in jail and how it is illegal for collectors to threaten consumers with being arrested for not paying a debt.
“…debt collectors do not advocate for, nor can they cause, a consumer to be arrested or jailed for an outstanding debt,” ACA said in its statement. “Like any other civil court case, only a judge, at his or her sole discretion, can issue an arrest warrant that calls for jail time, and – even then – only when an individual has been ruled to be in contempt of court for failing to respond to a court order. Thus, it is a consumer’s failure to comply with a court order, not his or her failure to pay a debt, which results in potential jail time.”
The key to “effective” debt recovery, ACA said, is “effective” communication between both the collection agency and the individual who owes the debt.
“Unfortunately, however, the ACLU’s report spreads a false narrative that increases mistrust in the professional debt collection industry. This in turn impedes communication between consumers and debt collectors, a consequence that can result in serious, long-term financial harm to a consumer.
“As the leading voice for the credit and collection industry, ACA International is disappointed in the misleading report released by the ACLU which inaccurately portrays debt collectors and the judicial system. However, ACA remains committed to working with policymakers, regulators, courts and attorneys general to identify practical solutions for improving communication between consumers and debt collectors so that judicial intervention in the recovery of debt is ultimately not needed.”
