Dead People - The Collection Industry's New Goldmine!

The collection industry has taken a new turn.   Many in this industry are now focusing their collection efforts to the dead.  Yes, this is true.  Debt collectors are finding it a little easier and a little more lucrative to contact family members of the deceased to get paid. How does this happen, you ask?  Here’s how.....

Because of today’s advanced technology and improved database systems, it is quite easy for collectors to discovery when estates are opened in the probate court system.  This gives the collectors plenty of time to file claims against the estate.  If there are no formal estates to file anything against, the human touch comes into play. 

A Minneapolis collection company, DCM Services (Deceased Collection Management), specializes solely in the collection of the dead, so to speak.  Their employees train in what the company calls “empathetic active listening”. In other words, this helps the collectors to better handle one who has lost a loved one and how to get money from them at the same time!

Another major deceased debt collection firm is Phillips & Cohen, employing about 300 collectors.  All of which are trained in the five stages of grief.

However, it is just a guess that neither of these deceased collection firms are trained to tell their callers that in most states and in most instances family members are NOT obligated by law to pay for their loved ones debt.  How terrible is that!