Bill Bartmann Reiterates Call to Suspend Debt Collection Lawsuits

Patrick Lunsford

Collection agency owner Bill Bartmann Wednesday again called for a moratorium on lawsuits filed by collection agencies and law firms to recover debt, probably signaling that his own company – CFS 2 – does not use the legal collection channel.

In a posting on HuffingtonPost.com, Bartmann reiterates a “plan” he initially floated in the Christian Science Monitor in November: freezing debt collector lawsuits until the national unemployment rate drops below 6 percent.

Using the analogy of a carcass on the plains of Africa, he said that debt collection agencies (except his, of course) are the vultures of the financial services world, using deplorable tactics – like legally enforcing a contract, I guess – to get larger bites of the carcass. Awesome.

What’s different this time around is that Bartmann claims to have met with some people to discuss his moratorium plan, namely Brian Deese, the Deputy Director of the White House National Economic Council, and former Minnesota Governor and former Presidential candidate, Tim Pawlenty. Bartmann does not mention how those meetings went, just that they happened.

The most disturbing part of this whole recent Bartmann turn is the language he uses to describe the ARM industry as a whole. In his most recent piece, he writes:

There are many debt collectors who believe consumers “get what they deserve” when they are sued over an unpaid credit card debt.

That kind of stuff. It’s almost as if he doesn’t own and operate a third party debt collection agency that is actively competing for work and is trying to find a way to differentiate itself in a crowded market. And I think that’s what collection agencies need to remember: this is just a business development tactic for Bartmann.