In November of last year, I wrote an article highlighting what I perceived to be some of the weaknesses in court rules that are exploited by unscrupulous debt collectors, their attorneys and their agents. I also pointed out in April that in Maryland, debt collectors were indicted. Those collectors were engaging what is called “sewer service”: representing to the court that a defendant had been served, when in fact they were not. The term “sewer service” is derived from the presumption that the process papers are tossed in the sewar, rather than properly given to the defendant.
Following last week’s series on the debt collection system in Massachusetts in today’s Globe, Warren Fitzgerald, president of the Massachusetts Bar Association had this to say:
An amendment to current small-claims rules may be required to ensure that notice requirements are meaningful. In terms of professional debt collectors, requiring them to serve personal notice on an individual who allegedly owes money may be necessary….Collection agencies and their attorneys have every right to pursue people who owe money, but they must do so lawfully. Lawyers in particular are governed by ethical rules that clearly prohibit some of the conduct described in the Globe series. If some lawyers are not obeying the rules, they should face disciplinary charges. Such behavior is an embarrassment to the overwhelming majority of lawyers in Massachusetts who are honest and ethical.
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