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  1. #1

    John Oliver buys and forgives $15m in debt



    17:13 - if you want to go straight to what he did. Appx $60,000 of that 15m were from his own pocket.

  2. #2
    The Undying Wildtree's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by thenconfuciussaid View Post
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxUAntt1z2c

    17:13 - if you want to go straight to what he did. Appx $60,000 of that 15m were from his own pocket.
    It was HBO's money, not his, to my knowledge.
    But nonetheless it was an awesome move.
    And the Feds/laws need to crack down on these practices from those debt companies.
    "The pen is mightier than the sword.. and considerably easier to write with."

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    Charity done right.
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  4. #4
    This video is in available in your country.

  5. #5
    People don't pay their medical bills and are turned into the debt collectors so he bought a bunch of these debts. They were very old debts and others had given up on collecting anything from them.

    The scary part to me is the company who sold him the debt sent all the data for the indebted patients, addresses, social security numbers phone numbers the works.
    .

    "This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can."

    -- Capt. Copeland

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Shinra1 View Post
    This video is in available in your country.
    Great, watch it then!

  7. #7
    Merely a Setback Reeve's Avatar
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    Interestingly, if you actually show up in court when the collection agency attempts to collect and say, "Show us the evidence," 99% of the time they drop the case immediately, because all they have is a line on an Excel spreadsheet, not any actual evidence of debt. Those companies bank on the idea that most people never try to fight them in court.

    So while it's nice for Oliver to take this off people's plates, all those people had to do to avoid paying those debts is show up on their court date and ask for evidence.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Wildtree View Post
    It was HBO's money, not his, to my knowledge.
    But nonetheless it was an awesome move.
    And the Feds/laws need to crack down on these practices from those debt companies.
    Yeah, but I'm sure it was part of his show's budget, which means to do this, they'd have had to sacrifice doing something else.
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  8. #8
    The Unstoppable Force Mayhem's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wildtree View Post
    It was HBO's money, not his, to my knowledge.
    But nonetheless it was an awesome move.
    And the Feds/laws need to crack down on these practices from those debt companies.
    Less than 60k was payed for all of that 15m debt.
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    I never said I was knowledge-able and I wouldn't even care if I was the least knowledge-able person and the biggest dumb-ass out of all 7.8 billion people on the planet.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Mayhem View Post
    Less than 60k was payed for all of that 15m debt.
    The $15 million in debt might be worth $30k.
    .

    "This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can."

    -- Capt. Copeland

  10. #10
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Wildtree View Post
    It was HBO's money, not his, to my knowledge.
    But nonetheless it was an awesome move.
    And the Feds/laws need to crack down on these practices from those debt companies.
    yes and no.
    yes it was hbo's money, but
    no hbo didnt give him the money to burn it, it was probably in the budged for the show.
    so he used money ment for the show to buy and then forgive debt.
    thats speculation on my end, but i think that would be the most realistic way it went.
    BUT, i dont want to deminish his move. its great.
    not only did he forgave the debt but also made people aware, and i think thats more important in the long run.
    sadly many people will say "hes a comedian so all he says is irrelevant". yes he is a comedian, but he still reports facts. or at least i hope he does and doesnt just come up with his storys and instead just adds funny bits to serious news

  11. #11
    It was interesting and as usual John Oliver delivers. Though this was also "out of statute debt", while still debt and still probably an issue it's older than 4 years and therefore in Texas it's no longer actionable in court and probably long written off by anyone interested in it.
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  12. #12
    The Undying Wildtree's Avatar
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    Geesh guys....... lol
    All I did was pointing out that it was money not out of Oliver's pocket (as the OP stated), instead it was from HBO.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Mayhem View Post
    Less than 60k was payed for all of that 15m debt.
    I know... I have seen that episode on tv when it was aired last night
    "The pen is mightier than the sword.. and considerably easier to write with."

  13. #13
    I had one of these companies send me a letter last year over an illegitimate Paypal charge back someone did against me back in 2004.

  14. #14
    Current year bong does it again
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  15. #15
    Granted this was basically "worthless debt" to begin with but its stuff like this, his justice system reports and especially the creating his own church episode is why I love this guy. Seriously though debt is a major issues that is going to blow up in our face soon. Also I would recommend watching the big short too because it's related to this topic.

  16. #16
    Almost as good as when he created a church. And while the debt was indeed out of statute debt and the debt buying industry could pretty much only attempt to bully people unaware of that/what it means into paying anyway, it's still raising awareness about the problem.
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  17. #17
    Someone should start a non-profit for doing this.

  18. #18
    if the debt was about to fall off their credit history and he paid it off, congrats it's now going to take another 7 years for it to fall off lol

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Eviscero View Post
    Someone should start a non-profit for doing this.
    If I was rich my charity would be paying off student loan depts for struggling families but I would exclude liberal arts degrees. You can bankruptcy medial dept but you can't student loan dept

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Reeve View Post
    Interestingly, if you actually show up in court when the collection agency attempts to collect and say, "Show us the evidence," 99% of the time they drop the case immediately, because all they have is a line on an Excel spreadsheet, not any actual evidence of debt. Those companies bank on the idea that most people never try to fight them in court.

    So while it's nice for Oliver to take this off people's plates, all those people had to do to avoid paying those debts is show up on their court date and ask for evidence.
    That's only if the collectors took the specific route of suing them over the debt (which, because it was explicitly out of statute debt, would be illegal). There's absolutely nothing stopping collectors, however, from harassing those 9000 people over the debt without ever taking the matter to court.

  20. #20
    Merely a Setback Reeve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DarkTZeratul View Post
    That's only if the collectors took the specific route of suing them over the debt (which, because it was explicitly out of statute debt, would be illegal). There's absolutely nothing stopping collectors, however, from harassing those 9000 people over the debt without ever taking the matter to court.
    Sure, but if that's the case, they can't actually do anything, and the individuals in question could sue the debtors for harassing them. That's harassment like any other sort of harassment.

    In the segment, though Oliver mentioned that these companies often get their money by suing in court, getting a summary judgment when no one shows for the defense, and then garnishing the wages of the person in debt. If the person allegedly in debt showed up to the court case and asked to see the evidence, 99% of the time the case would be dropped, since the company has no actual evidence.
    'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
    Or a yawing hole in a battered head
    And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
    And there they lay I damn me eyes
    All lookouts clapped on Paradise
    All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

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