|
The years I spent in banking/finance/collections/repo were the most stressful in my life. It was my job during the mid 90s, then again from 2003 until 2011. I spent countless hours spent trying to collect on or salvage bad loans. Talking down suicides when they knew the repo man/foreclosure was coming. I got cursed out, threatened-I even had few customers come to my office looking to fight me! I'm 6'4, 250 lbs. Those confrontations usually de-escalated very quickly. I also put in a lot of time trying to educate people re their financial health. Usually it was far too late. All I could do was hope they'd learn their lesson and be more careful in the future. I was one of the few voices in the wilderness advising against the reckless lending. I can't even count how many crazy loan folders crossed my desk. 20 year old kid living with his parents. Working part time at Subway. He just got approved for a 35K car loan and a 5K Visa. When loans like these inevitably defaulted, I was the one who had to try to collect on them. I remember one credit card that was given to a woman who lived in a shelter for transients. Her application plainly showed she had no permanent residence. I noted big charges piling up in a short time. I tried to get management to deactivate the account, hoping it would inspire an incoming call. Or at least control the damage. I was overruled, the card got maxed out and she skipped town. The application had no references, so I had no idea how to find her. The shelter staff could not help. The rep couldn't *believe* we issued the customer a credit card. Neither could I, but all I could do was wait for it to charge off and go to legal. Oh, the mortgages, credit cards and car loans that went out to people who were in the country on temporary work visa! I remember a loan where the proof of ID...was an *expired* work visa. The loan defaulted. I spent weeks trying to get the customer on the phone to no avail. Finally I got a call. The customer told me his work in the US was complete. He was moving back to his home country. The car was at the long term parking lot at the local international airport. He had Fed-Exed the car and house keys to my attention. Of course the card was maxed out. He told me he had no intention of paying on the card, since it was unlikely he would ever return to the US. I got stuck with the uncollectible loans until they charged off. I have many other horror stories. I also used to work as a sales rep/repo man for Rent-a-Center in the mid 90s. *shudder*
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 22:36
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 6, 2024 08:01 |
|