Potential creditors should respond in a logical matter – reducing their exposure to potential deadbeats and raising rates to cover the losses. Of course, the so called consumer activists will whine up a storm, yadda yadda yadda….lack of credit, hurting those on the margin, so on and so forth.

Another example: I had a Brooks Brothers credit card and I don’t know if they didn’t mail me a statement or if it got lost in the mail but they turned it over to another party for collection without even sending a second notice. That’s just lazy, as well as bad customer service, and they deserve to eat that fifteen dollars. And, no, I didn’t pay the collection agency for that one either.

I was using the example of a GM bond holder (screwed, btw by the command of a man, instead of being in the front of the line per the rule of LAW) as a great example of why being able to sell debt is useful – they could have got something instead of the nothing they did get. And no, I’m not stupid enough (nor will ever be) to buy any part of any industry dominated by unions after what they and their cronies in DC did to the GM bond holders. Only a fool would do so.

And David hits the nail on the head: “A thriving market for debt makes it possible to lend.”

BTW ChC: Yes, I got those same calls as well. I finally started asking them who it was they wanted, pressing those @$$ clowns. They finally shut the heck up and quit bothering me. Something else you can do is block the number from where the call is coming.

How could I, for example, sell off an annuity for a fixed payment if the new owner of the annuity would have to get me to collect for them?

I don’t think you realize how badly you would be hurting the people you are trying to help. If you reduce the value of debt, that means those who go into debt get less money in the first place. A thriving market for debt makes it possible to lend.

I have been getting calls several times a day for a decade or more; recorded messages insisting that I return the call to somebody named Patel who I assume works in India. They are looking for somebody named Zanubria, as well as other random people. My name is not Zanubria, and I suppose I could call Patel and explain this to him but why bother? He would only ask for a lot of personal identifying information that would be entered into their database to eventually be used against me with some phony claim. My favorites are the ones that say that by not answering them I am acknowledging that I am indeed the person they are hounding. Seriously, who replies to these calls? If they were going to sue me they would have done it years ago. They don’t even know who I am and they don’t care.

I miss the old days where at least a live person would make the call and offer threats.

If some mom and pop store loses out on a bounced check, let them make the calls. Most of the debt is sold off by financial companies, lenders and the like, anyway and we all know the shenanigans they have been involved in.