The government may start making robocalls to your cell phone soon to collect debt

[Wireless News]

http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/u9vIIlQZKwG2iYBbHG5BmA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3NfbGVnbztmaT1maWxsO2g9ODY7cT03NTt3PT EzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/homerun/digital_trends_973/c6d558110289de8143aec6a1716734b2 (http://news.yahoo.com/government-may-start-making-robocalls-174859232.html)As if there weren’t enough reasons to hate automated calls, here’s another to add to your list — that robocall may be Uncle Sam calling to collect your debts. A new-budget agreement-that now awaits President Obama’s-sign-off would allow companies like Nelnet, Navient, and American Education Services-to use those pesky pre-recorded, fill-in-the-blank calls in hopes of getting Americans to make good on what they owe the government, including federal student loans, mortgages, and tax payments.-So don’t hang up too quickly — this is one call you may actually need to take. The great irony in this latest legislation, of course, is that the Federal Communications Commission very recently announced-its release of-“robocall and telemarketing consumer complaint data weekly to help developers build and improve “do-not-disturb” technologies that allow consumers to block or filter unwanted calls and texts.” Unfortunately, that “do-not-disturb” sign clearly doesn’t apply to government institutions. According to the Education Department, this initiative would-help recent grads remember to pay back their loans on time (as though anyone ever- forgets- how much money they owe the government. “Many student loan borrowers,” said the agency, “especially those that may just be-graduating, move frequently in addition to no longer having landline phone numbers. It can be-difficult for servicers to find a borrower except by using a cell phone number.” Related :-The FCC hands down a $1.2M fine to Sprint over mishandled 911 outage in 2014 But consumer advocates are none too pleased with the proposal. “This-will unleash numerous unwanted calls to cellphones,” said-Margot Saunders, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. “If you’re low-income, on a limited cellphone plan and get 10 calls a week, it would be more than invasive, it would be expensive.” Of course,-another salient issue at hand is the effectiveness (or lack thereof) such robocalls will actually have on debt repayment. While a Government Accountability Office report notes that $94 billion worth of student loans went unpaid in 2013 (11 percent of all student loan debt), even the most liberal of estimates doesn’t suggest that permitting-robocalls will add much revenue. CNN reports that-“The Congressional Budget Office predicted the money gained would amount to no more than a rounding error.” And the Office of Management and Budget didn’t offer much better news — they’re estimates stand at an additional $12 million a year. Missouri Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill-may have been the most blunt about her feelings regarding the proposal.-“This is a stupid idea,” she said. “We should be getting rid of robocalls, not empowering the federal government to make them.”



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