Recently in Debt Collection Category

Allen Iverson, the one-time NBA’s Most Valuable Player, who had a very tough end to his career, just got legally hammered by an Atlanta jeweler over some old bling, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Aydin and Company Jewelers just gained access to Iverson’s Wells Fargo account in an attempt to recoup the hundreds of thousands Iverson still owed on the jewelry that he had purchased in 2008 and 2009. Allen Iverson’s jewelry included diamond bracelets, a diamond watch, and a ring.

Carlton A. Lewis, a UGA psychology grad student, was sentenced to six years in prison for committing identity theft and credit card fraud, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The 25-year-old from Lithonia was involved with credit and debit card skimming devices, which he then gave to waitresses who used them to obtain credit and debit card info from unsuspecting customers. Mr. Lewis' work wasn't done then. He then used a re-encoding device to turn the money into counterfeit credit and debit cards.

The Federal Trade Commission is pursuing more companies for abuse and illegal debt collection practices, reports the Huffington Post. Some of the debt collection companies targeted in the probe were abusive, used threatening words, and even went after people that didn’t owe the money.

But while abusive debt collectors exist, there are many legitimate small businesses in Georgia seeking to recover monies owed to them. How should they go about collecting that debt?

Talk about a nightmare.

America's total outstanding student loan debt now exceeds $ 1 trillion dollars, reports USA Today. That's more than the total economies of nearly every country in the world. This year alone American students took out $100 billion in loans. In fact, Americans now owe more on student loan debt than credit cards.

And the lenders are more than happy to keep giving out student loans without regard, because thanks to a 2005 law, student loan debt can't be discharged in bankruptcy, reports Think Progress. The enormity of the problem has led people to call the student debtors "the indentured servant generation."

Debt collection companies seemingly operate in mysterious ways, but recent legislative activity is bringing some of their behavior to light. The problem is that the behavior coming to light involves the debt collection industry lobbying to block some consumer protection legislation, reports Bloomberg News.

The lobbying comes about as a number of states have passed stronger consumer protection laws on top of the federal laws that already exist. These state laws have apparently cut into the “profitability” of the debt collection companies. The aim of the consumer protection laws was to protect individuals from various abuses committed by the debt collection companies.

Having health insurance is no longer a sufficient protection against higher medical bills, due to something called “balance billing.”

Balance billing is when people are provided care that is not from within the network of providers under contract with the patient’s insurer. In these situations, the patients end up having to pay a lot of extra money in medical bills, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

One of the examples cited in the article is about how State Representative Rusty Kidd was stuck with a bill for $19,000 after a helicopter transported him to a hospital after a fall.

Master P, one of the early pioneers of "dirty south" hip-hop, who sold 75 million records through his indie label No Limit Records, has now pushed some of his creditors to the limit.

A number of people who worked for Master P (given name, Percy Robert Miller) on his 2003 film, Uncle P, claim that the dirty south rapper and producer owes them dolla dolla bills y'all: $240,000 to be exact, reports TMZ.

An Atlanta nonprofit is making national headlines advising people about their medical debt bills.

CredAbility is a credit counseling agency from Atlanta featured on the "Bucks" blog at the New York Times for its research into the connection between medical debt bills and bankruptcies.

According to CredAbility, almost 20 percent of those seeking assistance with financial matters cited medical debt bills as the main reason for their decision to seek a bankruptcy. In previous years that number was closer to 12 or 13 percent.

Georgians, like most Americans, are under a great deal of debt. According to a July 2011 Federal Reserve report, each American household averages about $16,000 in debt — and that’s just credit card debt, it doesn’t include mortgages and student loans.

Such massive debt figures are not good for anyone, except the debt collection industry. According to insideARM, a website devoted to debt collection, 51 percent of collection agencies and 41 percent of collection law firms grew their employee rosters between April and June of this year.

The Atlanta Braves pitcher, John Smoltz, the team’s all-time leader in saves, won’t be able to protect one of his properties in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, reports 13 WMAZ Macon.

According to the Jackson Hole News and Guide, Smoltz owes Wells Fargo Bank about $1.6 million on a lot in the Snake River Sporting Club. The development has been in and out of bankruptcy since 2004. It will go up for auction on August 23.