New Watchdog Group To Help Stop Harassing Debt Collectors

MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Aggressive, harassing and abusive bill collectors are a top consumer complaint in the United States. If you're one of the 30 million Americans being pursued by a collection agency, sometimes fighting back can be frustrating but help is on the way.

Bill collectors sometimes call Kevin Lynn's house up to 20 times a day and the debt they are calling about isn't even his.

"I always told them I don't owe the debt, they had the wrong person, that I don't know who the person is," explained Kevin.

He said the debt belongs to the person who apparently lived in his house previous.

Kevin filed three lawsuits to get the ringing to stop and he's not alone.

The Federal Trade Commission says it received more than 15,000 complaints about debt collectors last year, that's more than any other industry.

"Some of our number one sources of complaints for consumers are for harassment and abuse calling too often, using profanity, making violent or abusive threats," explained Attorney Chris Koegel from the FTC.

To crack down, a new federal agency, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, is going to start policing some of the largest collection agencies in the country.

How bad can some company's tactics get?

Attorneys representing consumers say bill collectors have left people threatening messages such as, "I'm going ahead with a warrant for your arrest", and "You will be behind bars for six months and once you go behind the bars you may lose your job."

In an FTC lawsuit filed against one bill collector, a grieving mother said she was asked how she would feel if the funeral home dug up her son's body and "dropped it outside my house because I hadn't paid my debt."

"Every industry is going to have bad apples," said Pat Morris from the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals.

The debt collection trade association says it wants those using abusive tactics weeded out so others can do the job right.

"Don't shoot the messenger," said Morris. "We're here doing our job. We're here respecting laws and regulations and we treat consumers with respect."

The CFPB will have new authority to make sure large collection firms are not harassing or deceiving consumers into paying debt

and are using accurate data to pursue debts.

Kevin said that's good news because he's still getting collection calls and feels helpless to do anything about the harassment.

"Americans definitely need a new watch dog to help them," said Kevin.

The CFBP'S new authority starts January 2, 2013.

The FTC and CFPB will work together and share information and complaints it gets from consumers.