You might think that a company that wielding around a few billion dollars of assets has very little to fear from the likes of you, but it turns out that you’d be wrong.
CACH’s parent company (Square Two Financial) has to file an annual report with the Securities Exchange Commission, and in that report they have to disclose certain things to their investors (and to anybody else who cares to download the annual report, which you can do right here: 20140314_SquareTwo_10K_). Among the disclosures, are “risk factors” that CACH has identified. You might be amused to learn that they have identified YOU as a risk.
Yep, you.
Specifically, CACH is worried that you will not be foolish enough to pay them when you get a collection call, and will not hand them an easy win in their lawsuit. In fact, they are so worried about this as a trend that they had to disclose it in a government filing (their annual report called a 10-K).
CACH tries to “spin” their fears to blame everyone but themselves, but I think you will see through it. Here are some of the risks they’ve identified (in their own biased words):
• Websites exist where consumers list their concerns about the activities of debt collectors and seek guidance from other website posers on how to handle the situation. These websites are increasingly providing consumers with legal forms and other strategies to protest collection efforts and to try to avoid their obligations. To the extent that these forms and strategies are based upon erroneous legal information, the cost of collections is unnecessarily increased”
(10-K at p.23)
And check out this one for being rich with irony:
•We operate in a litigious climate and currently are, and may in the future be, named as defendants in litigation, including individual and class actions under consumer credit, collections, and other laws.
(10-K at p.23).
And boy, do they not want anybody in the media to tell you what jerks debt buyers are, as highlighted by the risk factor that might be paraphrased as “the truth might get out”:
•Print and television media, from time to time, may publish stories about the debt collection or accounts receivable management industry that may cite specific examples of real or perceived abusive collection practices. These stories are also published on websites, which can lead to the rapid dissemination of the story increasing the exposure to negative publicity about us or the industry.
(10-K at p.23).
But here are my favorite two:
•A significant portion of our collections relies upon our success in individual lawsuits, which are inherently unpredictable, brought against consumers and our ability to collect on judgments in our favor.
Combined with
•Our inability to provide sufficient evidence on accounts that are subject to legal collections may negatively impact the liquidation rate on these accounts
So there you have it! CACH is sweating its pants off afraid that you will hold them to the law because they cannot meet the legal requirements to prove their case against you.
If you look up the full text in the 10-K, you see that they try to frame their fears in terms of unreasonable legal demands that have been put upon them by unsympathetic regulators. Yeah, right. The game would be over for them, if only consumers would stand up for their rights en masse and defend themselves properly.
I do suggest this — and I don’t include a “plug” with every post, but I think it is warranted here — 1) if you’ve been sued by CACH sign up at the right for your free 15-minute consultation (no matter how savvy you are, you are better situated and likely to have a much better result in your case if you hire an attorney whom your adversary and the court perceive as professional in this subject matter); and 2) if you can’t afford an attorney, sign up at “ConsumerLawCoach” to be notified when that website becomes active and adds features, because it will have resources for those who cannot get an attorney or decide to represented themselves.
Want to help out in the effort to hurt the debt buying industry (a.k.a. make the world better place)? Then please do so, by sharing this post!