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Research recently collected by RealtyTrac Year-End 2009 Foreclosure Market Report indicates that 3,957,643 foreclosure filings were reported on 2,824,674 United States properties in 2009. Included in this research was scheduled foreclosure auctions, default notices and bank repossessions.

All told, that is a twenty one percent increase in properties from numbers in the information collected in 2008, and a one hundred and twenty percent increase in total properties from 2007. The report additionally showed us that one in forty five housing units, 2.21 percent, had at least one foreclosure filing during 2009, up from 2008′s 1.48 percent and 2007′s 1.03 percent.

In the month of just December, foreclosure filings measured out to 349,519 properties in December. This marks a fourteen percent jump from the last month of November and a fifteen percent increase from 2008. However, even though there was an increase in December, foreclosure activity in the fourth quarter of 2008 has decreased by seven percent.

Of all of the Amercian states, Nevada has the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate; more than ten percent of housing units obtained at least one foreclosure filing in 2009. This marks Nevada’s third consecutive year at the top of the foreclosure list. Nevada’s foreclosure activity in December has grown twenty seven percent from the previous month, but still was down by twenty two percent from December of 08.

Arizona claimed the nation’s second highest state foreclosure rate in 2009 with more than six percent of properties receiving at least one foreclosure filing during 2009, and Florida claimed the nation’s third highest foreclosure rate at 5.93 percent of its properties getting at least one foreclosure during the filing year.

This raises things to think about in the debt collection industry. Trends that have recently been noted that debtors are maxing out their credit debt and low balling their assets to receive lower payment plans. The fact that they are maxing out their credit cards to receive lower payment plans does not look promising.

Mallory Megan is employed by a debt collection company. Also she composes stories on business, finance, consumer spending and collection agencies. This article, Foreclosures On The Increase is released under a creative commons attribution licence.

Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection is the amount of time that creditors have to collect their debts by suing you in court and by other legal methods. Once the statute of limitations period is over, the creditors cannot sue you in court. However, the debt that you owe STILL REMAINS. Do not think that once the statute of limitations period is over, your debt will disappear. It will not! Creditors can collect their debts owed via other legal methods like a debt collection company.

We should point out that there are NO Statute of Limitations on the following types of debt owed: Child support due payments, Federal & Local state taxes, Parking fines, illegal fines and Federal Student Loans.

Each US Statute has its own statute of limitations periods. Generally speaking, here is the statute of limitations on the following types of debt: Auto Loans: Debt owed on auto loans generally expires in 6 years. Unsecured Debt: 3-6 years after the last missed payment by a consumer, or last tracked activity.

The moment you sign that debt contract for example a car lease document, a personal loan or other types of loans, the Statute of Limitations period begins. However, this rules varies state by state. Some states also allow the ‘adjustment” of this period. For example, a person living in Alabama has credit card debt of $15000 and does not make a single payment for 3 years. Now in the state of Alabama, the statute of Limitations period is 6 years. If that person travels out of the state of Alabama (say to Florida) for 1 year, then his statute of limitations period STOPS up until he returns back to Alabama from Florida. Upon his return to Alabama, this period resumes again (3 more years).

Also note that after 3 years of having not made a single payment on your debt, you start making payments again. This new payment automatically resets the statute of limitations period to 0.

We will now abbreviate the word statute of limitations as SoL. Consider another example:

You sign an auto financing contract on January 1st, 2006 where the first payment of $300 is due on February 1st, 2006. In February, you never make a payment towards your debt. The SoL expires on February 1st, 2012 (assuming you live in Alabama where the SoL period is 6 years). Why Feb 1st? This is because Feb 1st was the last time you made a delinquent payment on your loan, or this was your last missed payment. The SoL period starts counting from your last missed payment.

Now assume you receive a call from a debt collection company that instead of paying $300/month, you pay $150/month. You receive this call on March 1st, 2008 (2 years have expired on the SoL period). This offer sounds pretty good to you and you indeed do make the payment! Hey! The SoL period at this point automatically resets to 0 and will run for another 6 years!

To recap, every payment you make towards credit card or personal loan debt resets the SoL clock. This resetting of the SoL clock applies only to unsecured debt and NOT secured debt. This is because in Secured Debt, the lender will simply confiscate your collateral (a pledged home, your car, etc) and will not have to deal with collection issues.

If your lender harasses you after the SoL period of collecting the debts is legally over, you will not have to go to court. The court will probably call off the case as soon as the Judge finds out that the SoL period is over. You should write up an “Expired Statute of Limitations” letter to your creditor and inform him that the SoL period is over.

Many people confuse the Statute of Limitations Period of Debt Collection with the SoL period for Credit Reporting. For instance, consider you live in Arizona where the statute of limitations period is 3 years. After 4 years, you can defiantly refuse to pay that debt and the court will rule in your favor. However, according to the rules defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), your delinquent debt will be shown for up to 7 years (since your last delinquent or missed annuity payment).

Rapid Recovery Solution is a New York debt collection agency. This and other unique content ‘consumer collection agency’ articles are available with free reprint rights.

Just like the phoenix that rises from the ashes, so does so-called zombie debt. A consumer may think it’s dead, but it keeps coming back to haunt them.

“Zombie debt is a phrase to describe all debt that a consumer had forgotten about or never even owed that comes back to haunt them,” said John Monderine, of Rapid Recovery Solution, Inc.

Joan Baker has been tormented for years as collection agencies hassled her about debt that was not even hers to begin with. More than a decade ago Baker was the victim of identity theft and since then debt collectors have not let her rest.

“It is a nightmare. It won’t go away,” Baker said. “I had knots in my stomach. I was on the phone for hours.”

Baker reported a fraudulent $5,000 charge and still the debt collectors were persistent. When she refused to pay, they went after her credit rating. Each time she cleared her name with one agency, the cycle started up again because her debt had been sold to a different debt collection company.

Baker finally sued the persistent collection agency for fraud five years ago. Baker was awarded $40,000.

Her experience is not an isolated one.

When Larry Randazzo missed a Verizon bill for 11 cents, it ballooned into $4,000 seven years later.

Randazzo said the collector backed off when he made it clear that he knew his rights.

“If they are going after me, someone who has the resources to fight them, what are they doing to people who don’t understand their rights?” he said.

“I think what I did was make them aware that I was aware,” Randazzo said.

Many banks sell debt. For example, an institution might sell a credit-card debt worth $10,000 to a collection agency for only $100. Then, the agency turns around and aggressively tries to collect and whatever it receives is mostly profit.

This year more than $100 billion of “junk debt” is expected to be bought and sold on the open market, according to a report by debt collection advisory Kaulkin Ginsberg. A debt collection trade association said it polices its members.

“Once we determine that the complaint is against a member of ACA International, what we do is seek to work with the consumer and the debt collection agency to identify a solution,” said Rozanne Andersen, executive vice president of the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals.

How to Protect Yourself

First, ask for something in writing.

Consumers should know the statute of limitations in their state. Many allot about seven years where you cannot be sued or have your credit rating destroyed.

“If a consumer knows the debt is past the statute of limitations, they should not pay it,” said Mauro.

Also, you should never let a collector debit your account because the money can often be difficult to get back.

Rapid Recovery Solution is a third party debt collection agency. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

It is important that debt collectors respect your privacy. According to the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act, debt collectors cannot exchange information about people that owe a debt. They can’t distribute a list of debtors to its creditor subscribers. They cannot advertise a debt for sale, or compile a list of debtors to its creditor subscribers.

They cannot advertise a debt for the use of sale, or make a list of debtors for sale to others. They are prohibited from leaving messages with third parties asking the debtor to call them. The exterior of envelopes sent by collections agents cannot indicate the purpose of the letter in any way. Postcards are never allowed.

A collector is permitted to send mail in care of another person only if you reside at that address or if you receive your mail at that address. If you share your address with others the mail should be labeled “private” or personal. Basically, the letter can’t give any appearance alluding to the fact that it is a collections bill.

A debt collector that knows your name and telephone number and thus can contact you directly is not allowed to contact your neighbors or family members. If they cannot locate you and they do call your family members or neighbors, the collector must identify themselves by name but not disclose the fact that they are a debt collector.

They can’t tell others you owe money or speak to them about account details. They cannot contact the person more than once, can’t leave information about a the money on another person’s voicemail and they have to disclose the name of the collection agency but only if asked.

If you are being contacted by a collector looking for your former roommate, relative or neighbor, the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act says a collector can only be in contact with you to find the location of the person who owes the money. Only if the collector believes you have new information can they be in touch again. If a collector contacts you repeatedly about a third party that can be considered harassment and you can file a complaint.

Mallory McGuinness-Hickey is employed by Rapid Recovery Solution and writes free lance articles on debt collection and finances.

The government is stepping up as debt collection scams rise. In recent news, Buffalo New York has been home to a number of unlawful debt collection practices, and authorities have arrested at least twelve people. Although the vast majority of collection agencies are legitimate and good for the economy, there has been a rising amount of deceptive and illegal practices.

In Buffalo, collections agents have been caught calling up people that owe money and posing as law enforcement. They have threatened to send people that owe money into jail, or even take child custody away from them. But it doesn’t stop there.

A recent civil case imposed a $675,000 penalty ever imposed on a debt collection business, for illegal and deceptive practices. This includes harrassing and lying to consumers, cashing in on post dated checks early, and disclosing their debt to third parties. These tactics came by deceptive claims from agents saying they were lawyers or other figures of authority.

In addition to refusing to reveal the address or phone number of the “company” these agents even went as far as to call people who were not in any debt at all and attempted to collect money from them. Even though the owners of said companies alleged that it was individual workers acting fraudulently, the Federal Trade Commission went after the business owners and won a case that imposed the biggest penalty ever for debt collection agencies.

To skirt the issue of being a victim to fraudulent collection agencies, it is imperative that you know your rights. A collection company can never seize a debtor’s assets, bank accounts, or paychecks. They can not get a debtor fired from their occupation, and cannot make any kind of public disclosures concerning the debt, and they can definitely never threaten or engage in violent acts.

For more information, refer to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which outlines the rules and regulations of debt collection.

Mallory McGuinness is employed by a collections agency that works with a debt collection lawyer. Also, she does stories on business, finance, the credit industry and collections agencies. Visit the Uber Article Directory to get a totally unique version of this article for reprint.

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