Debt collectors used sexual threats, says New York AG

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (pictured at right) has sued Benning-Smith Group, a debt collection agency operating under a number of different names, accusing the company of more than 1,000 violations of New York and federal law in his state alone.

From the press release announcing the lawsuit:

In one instance, a Benning-Smith collector kept repeating the name of a consumer's daughter, describing various sexual things he would do to her unless the debt was paid. Another collector told a female consumer that if both she and her husband would engage in sexual acts with him, he would pay their debt himself. Collectors routinely called consumers "drunks," "scumbags," "deadbeats," and, in one instance, "a low-life piece of trash."

Classy.

An important thing to remember with debt collectors is this: They can do almost nothing without suing you.

One of the favorite tactics of credit card debt collectors is simply making up steps they'll take to intimidate people into compliance. They'll threaten to seize drivers' licenses, prevent a person from being discharged from the military, garnish wages, empty bank accounts, etc.

As Dave Ramsey recently told a caller on his show, "It's a freakin' collection agency" and they can't do anything except annoy you without a court order -- and even with a court order, they can't take your driver's license or have your daughter raped.

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Debt Collector Horror Stories

We all know that, sometimes, debt collectors can go too far. Click through our gallery for ways they cross the line.

Cassandra Hubbart, AOL

AP

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