Carmen Dellutri, one of my Bankruptcy Law Network colleagues from Florida, featured a post on his blog, the Florida Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog, by associate Joe LoTempio last month that really resonated with me, as it gets to the emotional heart of many of my clients’ fears about filing for bankruptcy:
At some point in our country’s history, a stigma became associated with filing for bankruptcy that has irreversibly tarnished the institution in the minds of many Americans. Many good, honorable, hard-working people who have become buried in debt for whatever reason are extremely hesitant to even consider the possibility of filing for bankruptcy because of this so-called stigma.
Joe goes on to conclude that the stigma is, to a large degree, creditor-created.
I think he’s right, and it bears further exploration because, like Joe, I have talked with many clients who come to my office seeking relief from the overwhelming crush of consumer debt who, nevertheless, express reluctance to file because of this perception of bankruptcy as a bad thing. And in almost every case, the client has been worked over pretty well by harassing debt collectors before he or she ever sets foot in our office.
Debt Collectors: Consider the Source
When a debt collector tells you “you ought to have some integrity and pay your bills,” that person is not just trying to harass you. He or she has been well-trained in the art of psychological warfare, in a sense. Collection call agents are taught how to push your buttons from their first day on the job.
And nothing, they are told, pushes a debtor’s button harder or faster than casting doubt on the debtor’s personal integrity.
Consider that innocent sounding sentence: “You ought to have some integrity and pay your bills.” I’ve heard these exact words repeated to me by many clients, by the way, and there are countless variations on the same theme.