As explained at Slate:
On Sunday night John Oliver staged what he described as “the largest one-time giveaway in television show history,” giving $14,922,261.76 to nearly 9,000 lucky Texans. Or maybe not-so-lucky Texans, at least until Sunday: The money came in the form of forgiveness for out-of-statute medical debts, debts so old they could no longer be recovered in court. It was part of a lengthy investigation into the shady ethics and questionable practices of debt buyers, companies that buy up debts for pennies on the dollar and go to great, sometimes illegal lengths to collect them…
The broader case Oliver is making is that the entire debt buying industry is corrupt and underregulated, not just the most laughably incompetent collectors. It’s difficult to argue after seeing his footage of the Debt Buyers Association’s annual conference, in which trade group members scoff at the idea of their debtor’s legal rights. But the strongest argument Oliver makes that the industry needs work is that they let him become a part of it. Without too much hassle, he was able to set up his own debt collection company and purchased a portfolio of nearly $15 million in Texas medical debts. (Total cost: less than $60,000.) Then, with the press of a giant red button, he forgave all $15 million. As best as the staff of Last Week Tonight could figure, this gives Oliver the record for largest giveaway (previously held by Oprah Winfrey for giving her audience cars). Given the misery debt buyers and collection agencies cause, it’s hard to imagine any late-night host doing more concrete good for such a small cash outlay—but here’s hoping they make a competition of it.
Oliver’s deft at turning jokes about what’s actually a horrific situation: America’s self-proclaimed Masters of the Universe have birthed an entire industry based on screwing every last penny out of the victims of medical catastrophes. I cannot believe this is the best and highest purpose for the richest, most advanced society on the planet.
some guy
brilliant and really really worthy move
geg6
Saw this last night. I didn’t think he could get more epic than his FTFY trolling earlier this spring but this is just amazing and moving. I couldn’t love him more and he makes his old boss look like the fake he was.
rikyrah
This is a good thing. Thanks to Oliver for helping those people.
Hildebrand
I wonder if Oliver isn’t the true heir to Hunter Thompson. Not so much the gonzo part, but the seeming belief that journalism (though Oliver declares pretty consistently that he is a comedian doing a shtick, and is just trying to be funny – which I don’t buy for a moment) can actually do the right thing for the ‘common good’. Last night was a great example of John Oliver recognizing that simply saying that something is wrong isn’t sufficient.
Groucho48
That was great! As I mentioned on another forum, it would be great if someone started a gofundme for this. I’d chip in a few bucks.
Mike in NC
Love his show but you have to subscribe to HBO to see it.
Warren Terra
There is sadly one reason to be slightly skeptical: there was an excellent long form article a couple of years back about the world of buying and collecting on deeply discounted old, bad debt – I think it’s this NYT article – an one of the things you learn is that many of these lists of old, uncollected debts and the rights to them are fraudulent, have been sold multiple times, and haven’t properly recorded when debts were paid or cancelled. So it’s extremely possible, even probable, that some bottom feeders will still be harassing people and trying to collect on the debts Oliver cancelled for years to come.
Not to criticize Oliver at all – the main point is bringing the attention to the issue, anyways – but it’s a sad ft of how these things work.
pseudonymous in nc
Debt Collective are a bit pissed off with Oliver and his researchers for taking their idea (which began as Rolling Jubilee) and initially working with them, but ultimately acknowledging their role because of its original ties to Occupy. I think they have a point:
As Warren Terra says, buying old debt and tearing it up doesn’t stop the true shithole bottom feeders from making people’s lives miserable. That’s probably going to require some work from Senator Warren and her colleagues once the Dems are back in the majority there.
Hillary Rettig
great stuff, and I definitely want to see more, but just to give some credit where it’s due Occupy and a couple of offshoots were doing this a few years back, mostly for student debt tho:
http://rollingjubilee.org/
http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/17/pf/college/occupy-wall-street-student-loan-debt/
Major Major Major Major
Rolling Jubilee started doing this back in the OWS days. They’ve retired $32 million off donations so far.
Mnemosyne
Testing out my new iPad keyboard. It’s not awesome, but it will do in a pinch and it was only $15. The space bar is a little wonky and it’s very tiny.
Mnemosyne
@pseudonymous in nc:
Well, sure, it would be great to have a world where predatory lenders don’t exist, but you have people who are suffering in the meantime. Refusing to help them until we solve the problem of predatory lending is like refusing to treat cancer patients until we have a cure for cancer, not just chemo and radiation.
smith
@Warren Terra: It’s worse than not recognizing cancelled debt: They will go after people who have never fallen behind on a bill in their lives. That’s me — I’ve gotten many, many harassing calls from these scum over the years. I don’t know if it’s because I have a common name and they really don’t care if they have the right person, or if they just robodial and see if they can bully someone into paying money they don’t owe. It’s really just a legally protected extortion game and long past in need of a crackdown.
Major Major Major Major
my favorite musician and i just had a small twitter conversation about the ablative case! squee
pseudonymous in nc
@Mnemosyne: of course, but the question is whether buying zombie debt (from skeezy resellers) actually stops the letters and phone calls and sleepless nights with worry. If it does in this case, then great. If not, it’s at best a gesture and needs to be a proper call to action about an large industry that’s entirely made up of shitheads.
(FDCPA and its state-level equivalents aren’t effective any more: see the discussion in comments here.)
Anne Laurie
@Hillary Rettig: Yes, I posted about Rolling Jubilee back in 2012. I’m glad to see they’re still doing their good work, and also glad that Oliver has introduced so many new people to the problem!
Major Major Major Major
@Anne Laurie: Argh, didn’t see that I got beat to it by 2 minutes!
Renie
Another example of an unregulated industry preying on people. Never ceases to amaze me how people will do anything to make a buck even while hurting those less fortunate then them.
Luthe
I’ve gotten calls from assholes like this before. The woman started the conversation with “You owe a debt of $$$. How would you like to pay?” I turned around and said I wasn’t paying anyone until they sent me, in the mail, a letter documenting what the debt was for, who it was originally owed to, and how much it was. It was amazing how effective my insistence on getting a paper copy of the bill was. Never heard from them again. Never showed up on my credit report either.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
John Oliver is now officially my hero.
Mnemosyne
@pseudonymous in nc:
I guess it depends on if the people whose debt has been paid off get a letter in the mail saying, Congratulations, this old debt has been paid off, and you can now tell the bill collectors calling about it to go fuck themselves. If they don’t get any documentation or notification, then I agree that it’s not really helping anyone.
gene108
Company I work for got a notice from a debt collector for $500k because one of our employee’s had premature triplets and there was some pissing contest between the hospital and our insurance company.
This was of course years after the delivery took place.
So the hospital sticks whatever portion they did not get paid by the insurance in “bad debts”, probably already wrote it off for tax purposes and this company sends a nasty letter.
Given the size of claim against, we actually got a lawyer involved, even though we figured there was not much behind the notice. The notice did have a paragraph referencing either a law or some maybe a portion of an insurance contract between the hospital and the insurance company (can’t remember exactly).
If these companies can get a small percentage of the people they hit up for bad debts to pay, they make back their money.
It is just a phishing scam using snail mail.
sherparick
Speaking of assholes, the Republican Party appears to have made being a sociopath a litmus test for holding public office. Is there a finer example of this than Senator Cotton. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/07/opinion/an-obama-nominees-crushed-hopes.html?_r=0
Mnemosyne
Also, too, annoying as it is that people only start paying attention when a celebrity picks up a cause, having Oliver highlight this on his program is potentially helpful. It gives other lobbyists for the same cause an easy-to-understand reference that they can send to legislators.
gene108
I believe payment of your debt, by a third party, is considered a taxable event by the IRS. So if this was real debt, John Oliver needs to send out $15 million dollars worth of 1099’s.
Edit: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc431.html, yeah if the debt has actually been recorded agai st the person, like a mortgage, I guess it would be taxable to the individual.
lamh36
Come the fuq on…really…
@thinkprogress 38s38 seconds ago
Ohio governor poised to make voters pay to keep polls open late http://thkpr.gs/3781780
Mnemosyne
@smith:
For some reason, I’ve been getting cell phone calls asking for someone else on a cell phone number I’ve had for almost 20 years. They hang up as soon as I say, “Wrong number,” but it’s still annoying as hell to get those calls over and over again.
Omnes Omnibus
@Luthe: I have a form letter that I used for clients who got hit with BS collection attempts. I would ask that they provide:
1. What the money you say my client owes is for;
2. Explain and show me how you calculated what you say my client owes;
3. Provide me with copies of any papers that show my client agreed to pay what you say my client owes;
4. Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable;
5. Identify the original creditor;
6. Prove the statute of limitations has not expired on this account;
7. Show me that you are licensed to collect in this state;
8. Provide me with your license numbers and Registered Agent;
9. Proof that the collection company owns the debt/or has been assigned the debt;
10. Complete payment history, starting with the original creditor. This requirement was established by the case Fields v. Wilber Law Firm, Donald L. Wilber and Kenneth Wilber, USCA-02-C-0072, 7th Circuit Court, Sept 2004;
11. Copy of the original signed agreement.
Then I would go on to the threatening parts about further contact, negative credit reporting, etc. Usually, I would little of what I asked for and would follow up with a fuck off letter.
sherparick
This is the article where Frank Bruni appears to understand what a flaming asshole Senator Cotton and the Republican Party are right now.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/07/opinion/an-obama-nominees-crushed-hopes.html?ribbon-ad-idx=7&src=trending&module=Ribbon&version=origin®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Trending&pgtype=article
lgerard
@efgoldman:
There was also an excellent little book published a few years ago called “Bad Paper” which investigated the lower depths of debt collection. These vermin rely on the reluctance of people to show up in court (many times not being properly served) and not being familiar with their rights. Sadly, there is a simple defense against these blood suckers:that guarantees a win every time.
It involves showing up and uttering just two words: “Prove it”
bmoak
@Renie:
Oh, there are regulations. it’s just that debt collection agencies count on people not knowing them or their rights when dealing with debt collectors. If a debt collector can’t or won’t provide a written validation notice, then the debt is not legit and they are just trying to strong arm you. And this doesn’t count the may scam “debt collectors”out there that get their hands on a list of debtors and start calling to collect on debts that they don’t hold or have been paid off.
The Federal Trade Commission’s consumer information website has a lot of useful info, as does their Scam Alerts! blog.
sigaba
@gene108: I was worried about that when I heard this, all of that forgiveness is taxable income. When Oprah gave away all those cars everyone in the audience was hit with something like a $6000 tax bill.
Omnes Omnibus
@gene108: @sigaba: Cancellation of debt as a gift is not taxable.
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
Was hoping you’d pop in.
Sunday, June 12, 8:30 a.m. Eastern – Alexander Hamilton. George Arliss is always worth watching and had a particular theatrical knack for inhabiting the skin of historical figures, although he was by this time a few decades older than Hamilton was when he died. From the original 1931 NYT review:
Arliss, having been born in 1868, certainly had access while growing up to encountering people alive when Hamilton was, giving him a personal perspective on the atmosphere and manners of the period.
NotMax
@NotMax
Heh, left out one piece of info.
Sunday, June 12, 8:30 a.m. Eastern on TCM.
Mnemosyne
@NotMax:
Yes, I’ve always been tempted to see that, so I’ll set the DVR. The biggest issue most people have with the film is that Arliss is WAY too old to be playing Hamilton on film — Arliss is in his 60s trying to play a man in his mid-30s and even at the time, most people said it just doesn’t work.
ETA: Also, it is correct that Hamilton most often called his wife “Betsey” in the letters he wrote her, but as anyone who’s listened to the cast album can tell you, you can get a lot more musical mileage out of “Eliza.”
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: No, but the message is quite clear.
sdhays
@Mnemosyne: Oliver said that they were working with a non-profit outfit which does this exact type of thing. I assume that means that any legal issues required to put this debt to rest will be taken care of professionally and people will be contacted if possible. It’s not like he just announced it on television and said “consider my magic wand waved”.
pseudonymous in nc
@sdhays: and based on the Debt Collective blog post, Oliver’s team has been working on this for at least eight months, which should be enough to have their legal ducks in order.
Carl W
@Mike in NC:
I guess it’s not full episodes, but there’s many hours of Last Week Tonight content on YouTube.
Luthe
@Omnes Omnibus: That’s impressively thorough. I may have to save that info for the future.
Central Planning
@gene108: Of course everyone here watched the whole video, because everyone remembers JO sent the medical debt to RIP Medical Debt, a company that specializes in forgiving medical debt with no tax consequences.
Start watching at 19:30
MCA1
@Mike in NC: So subscribe, then. It’s less than a hundred bucks a year, if I’m not mistaken. Reward them for putting this sort of thing on the television, incentivizing more of it. You’re part of the market – step up and make your dollars speak, however quietly.
JGL
@Omnes Omnibus: Actually, gifts over the exclusion limit are taxable (I think $14k is the current one). But as someone else pointed out, they specifically “forgave” the debt in partnership with an organization that knows how to keep it from being taxable.