Bill Collector to Disabled Vet: “You should’ve served the country better and died!”

“If you would have served our country better you would not be a disabled veteran living off Social Security while the rest of us honest Americans work our asses off. Too bad, you should have died.”

Those were the words heard by disabled veteran Michael Collier when he answered a phone call from a bill collector, set on recouping a $6000 outstanding student loan.

The Minnesota-based debt collection agency, Gurstel Chargo, is facing a major lawsuit for an agent’s abuse towards a United States veteran. Collier sustained severe head and spinal injuries when in the Army, and receives a disability pension from the Social Security Administration, which is exempt from garnishment or seizure from collection agencies.

Illegally, the collection agency had the Collier’s bank account frozen and the couple had to go to court, who came to the decision the funds were exempt from the seizure. When the company defied the order to return the funds, Collier called to attempt to get his money back. He reports that an agency paralegal said, ““F–k you! Pay us your money! You can’t afford an attorney. You owe us. I hope your wife divorces you.”

The collection agents are paid on a commission basis of 20%, giving impetus to their extreme efforts to collect the funds.

The Colliers are suing the collection agency for actual damages, statutory damages, and punitive damages for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), privacy invasion, malicious infliction of emotional distress and conversion.

The debt collection agency has released a statement in response to the Collier’s accusations:

We learned late last week of the lawsuit filed by Michael Andrew Collier and Kim Collier-Dingman. Gurstel Chargo takes the allegations made in the lawsuit very seriously and we have immediately launched an internal investigation to determine the facts. We are extremely disturbed by the allegations stated in the Complaint, as they are contrary to the policies, practices and values of our firm. We expect that all Gurstel Chargo employees fully comply with all state and federal laws, and we thoroughly train our employees to perform their job in a lawful and respectful manner. Under no circumstances does our firm tolerate the type of conduct alleged in the Complaint.

The Complaint states that the wrongful remarks were made during a telephone call. We have requested from the attorney that filed the Complaint the phone number of the phone that Mr. Collier was allegedly on, an approximate date on which the call occurred, whether the person who made the alleged wrongful comments was male or female, all in order to help us to get to the truth about what occurred. We have been informed by Mr. Collier’s attorney that he is unaware of any of this information. To date, we have discovered no information to substantiate the allegations, but our investigation continues. Should these allegations prove to be true, we will take immediate corrective and disciplinary action.

 Hat tip to Stan Deyo