States and cities where debt collection calls are surging
Individuals may report debt collector calls to the FTC, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) or their state's attorney general office. Americans living in Georgia have been the most inundated with these calls, with residents filing 80 complaints per 100,000 people, according to NumberBarn analysis . Atlanta was the worst hit city, with 6,500 complaints made for every 100,000 residents.
Texas was the second worst hit state, with locals filing more than 18,000 complaints of debt collector calls - 62 for every 100,000 people. Experts claim the recent surge is down to both legitimate debt collectors ramping up efforts to claim back funds amid economic uncertainty , as well as scammers exploiting the situation by impersonating collectors. Dallas was the city flooded with the second most calls adjusted for population, followed by Miami.
Although debt collection call complaints have been steadily rising for the last 10 years - averaging between 35,000 and 45,000 per quarter - the recent spike is notable. The biggest chunk of complaints are made by those aged 30 to 39, a group weighed down by more than half of the nation's student loan debt. This leaves Americans in that age bracket open to legitimate and fraudulent debt collection calls, experts warned.
'When it comes to debt collection, we're seeing a perfect storm right now,' Michael Boggiano, managing partner at Wealthcare Financial, told Money.com . 'The surge in complaints against collectors reflects both a rise in legitimate frustration and a rise in fraud.' The average American's debt is now $61,660, up $970 from a year ago, according to the New York Federal Reserve.
That is more than four times the volume that were described as such in the same period of 2024. Experts from NumberBarn say that aggressive or threatening tactics could be a sign a call is a scam, as official debt collectors must follow certain regulations.
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The Independent
28 minutes ago
- The Independent
Republicans look to make a U-turn on federal commitment to electric vehicles for the Postal Service
A year after being lauded for its plan to replace thousands of aging, gas-powered mail trucks with a mostly electric fleet, the U.S. Postal Service is facing congressional attempts to strip billions in federal EV funding. In June, the Senate parliamentarian blocked a Republican proposal in a major tax-and-spending bill to sell off the agency's new electric vehicles and infrastructure and revoke remaining federal money. But efforts to halt the fleet's shift to clean energy continue in the name of cost savings. Donald Maston, president of the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, said canceling the program now would have the opposite effect, squandering millions of dollars. 'I think it would be shortsighted for Congress to now suddenly decide they're going to try to go backwards and take the money away for the EVs or stop that process because that's just going to be a bunch of money on infrastructure that's been wasted," he said. Beyond that, many in the scientific community fear the government could pass on an opportunity to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to global warming when urgent action is needed. Electrified vehicles reduce emissions A 2022 University of Michigan study found the new electric postal vehicles could cut total greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20 million tons over the predicted, cumulative 20-year lifetime of the trucks. That's a fraction of the more than 6,000 million metric tons emitted annually in the United States, said professor Gregory A. Keoleian, co-director of the university's Center for Sustainable Systems. But he said the push toward electric vehicles is critical and needs to accelerate, given the intensifying impacts of climate change. 'We're already falling short of goals for reducing emissions,' Keoleian said. 'We've been making progress, but the actions being taken or proposed will really reverse decarbonization progress that has been made to date.' Many GOP lawmakers share President Donald Trump's criticism of the Biden-era green energy push and say the Postal Service should stick to delivering mail. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said 'it didn't make sense for the Postal Service to invest so heavily in an all-electric force." She said she will pursue legislation to rescind what is left of the $3 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act allocated to help cover the $10 billion cost of new postal vehicles. Ernst has called the EV initiative a 'boondoggle' and "a textbook example of waste,' citing delays, high costs and concerns over cold-weather performance. 'You always evaluate the programs, see if they are working. But the rate at which the company that's providing those vehicles is able to produce them, they are so far behind schedule, they will never be able to fulfill that contract," Ernst said during a recent appearance at the Iowa State Fair, referring to Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Defense. 'For now,' she added, "gas-powered vehicles — use some ethanol in them — I think is wonderful.' Corn-based ethanol is a boon to Iowa's farmers, but the effort to reverse course has other Republican support. Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, a co-sponsor of the rollback effort, has said the EV order should be canceled because the project "has delivered nothing but delays, defective trucks, and skyrocketing costs.' The Postal Service maintains that the production delay of the Next Generation Delivery Vehicles, or NGDVs, was 'very modest" and not unexpected. 'The production quantity ramp-up was planned for and intended to be very gradual in the early months to allow time for potential modest production or supplier issues to be successfully resolved,' spokesperson Kim Frum said. EVs help in modernization effort The independent, self-funded federal agency, which is paid for mostly by postage and product sales, is in the middle of a $40 billion, 10-year modernization and financial stabilization plan. The EV effort had the full backing of Democratic President Joe Biden, who pledged to move toward an all-electric federal fleet of car and trucks. The 'Deliver for America' plan calls for modernizing the ground fleet, notably the Grumman Long Life Vehicle, which dates back to 1987 and is fuel-inefficient at 9 mpg. The vehicles are well past their projected 24-year lifespan and are prone to breakdowns and even fires. 'Our mechanics are miracle workers,' said Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union. 'The parts are not available. They fabricate them. They do the best they can.' The Postal Service announced in 2022 it would deploy at least 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028, including commercial off-the-shelf models, after years of deliberation and criticism it was moving too slowly to reduce emissions. By 2024, the agency was awarded a Presidential Sustainability Award for its efforts to electrify the largest fleet in the federal government. Building new postal trucks In 2021, Oshkosh Defense was awarded a contract for up to 165,000 battery electric and internal combustion engine Next Generation vehicles over 10 years. The first of the odd-looking trucks, with hoods resembling a duck's bill, began service in Georgia last year. Designed for greater package capacity, the trucks are equipped with airbags, blind-spot monitoring, collision sensors, 360-degree cameras and antilock brakes. There's also a new creature comfort: air conditioning. Douglas Lape, special assistant to the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers and a former carrier, is among numerous postal employees who have had a say in the new design. He marvels at how Oshkosh designed and built a new vehicle, transforming an old North Carolina warehouse into a factory along the way. 'I was in that building when it was nothing but shelving,' he said. 'And now, being a completely functioning plant where everything is built in-house — they press the bodies in there, they do all of the assembly — it's really amazing in my opinion.' Where things stand now The agency has so far ordered 51,500 NGDVs, including 35,000 battery-powered vehicles. To date, it has received 300 battery vehicles and 1,000 gas-powered ones. Former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in 2022 the agency expected to purchase chiefly zero-emissions delivery vehicles by 2026. It still needs some internal combustion engine vehicles that travel longer distances. Frum, the Postal Service spokesperson, said the planned NGDV purchases were "carefully considered from a business perspective' and are being deployed to routes and facilities where they will save money. The agency has also received more than 8,200 of 9,250 Ford E-Transit electric vehicles it has ordered, she said. Ernst said it's fine for the Postal Service to use EVs already purchased. 'But you know what? We need to be smart about the way we are providing services through the federal government,' she said. 'And that was not a smart move.' Maxwell Woody, lead author of the University of Michigan study, made the opposite case. Postal vehicles, he said, have low average speeds and a high number of stops and starts that enable regenerative braking. Routes average under 30 miles and are known in advance, making planning easier. 'It's the perfect application for an electric vehicle," he said, 'and it's a particularly inefficient application for an internal combustion engine vehicle.' ____
The Guardian
29 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ghislaine Maxwell's grand jury transcripts are likely a dud, but other documents could reveal much
When Donald Trump's Department of Justice requested the release of grand jury transcripts in criminal proceedings against sex-traffickers Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, the move did little to quiet an ever-growing chorus of critics frustrated by the US president's backtracking over disclosing investigative files. Indeed, the justice department's filings in this request revealed that only two law enforcement officers testified during grand jury proceedings in New York, undermining notions that unsealing them would reveal numerous truths. Manhattan federal court judge Paul Engelmayer recently rejected the justice department's unsealing gambit and, in his decision, dealt yet another blow to the suggestion that grand jury documents would foster transparency about Epstein and Maxwell's crimes and their social links to powerful figures such as Bill Clinton, Donald Trump himself and many others. 'Insofar as the motion to unseal implies that the grand jury materials are an untapped mine lode of undisclosed information about Epstein or Maxwell or confederates, they definitively are not that,' Engelmayer said, adding that anyone who expected new information to emerge from the documents 'would come away feeling disappointed and misled'. 'There is no 'there' there,' Engelmayer said in his written decision. In disabusing the possibility of bombshells in Maxwell's grand jury transcripts, questions once again abound as to whether other investigative documents on Epstein will ever see the light of day – and whether there will be any political consequences for Trump if his justice department does not deliver them to a public increasingly convinced of a cover-up. Neama Rahmani, founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers and a former federal prosecutor, said the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, and the FBI director, Kash Patel, have the legal power to release these other documents – but it might be politics that is keeping them from doing so. 'They hold the key,' he said. 'With a stroke of their pen, they can release the Epstein files.' Most of the Epstein files are not grand jury transcripts protected by sealing, Rahmani said. 'There has to be a treasure trove of information that the Department of Justice has. 'Members of the public [and] the media, they can't compel the DoJ to release the information under a [Freedom of Information Act] request or anything similar, because there's the law enforcement privilege, the deliberative process privilege,' Rahmani added. 'The DoJ doesn't have to make public its confidential files just because the public wants to, but they can certainly choose to do so. 'Trump was inaugurated in January. Bondi has been AG for seven months now. How long does it take to go through these documents? 'I think we're waiting for something that's never going to come to fruition.' Victims' advocates have also noted that the Trump administration is capable of releasing these documents so that those whom Epstein and Maxwell preyed on can get justice. 'For the last 20 years the victims have always wanted the full disclosure of information regarding Epstein and Maxwell's sexual-trafficking scheme. They have always wanted all individuals to be held accountable for their part in the sexual exploitation,' said Spencer Kuvin, chief legal officer of Goldlaw, who has represented multiple Epstein victims. 'The current administration has the power to release everything by merely signing an executive order. Instead of trying to help victims and expose sexual predators, they are more worried about protecting their friends who socialized with these criminals.' Analysts have voiced differing views on whether there is longterm political liability for Trump if the documents are not released. Susan MacManus, professor emerita of political science at the University of South Florida, said there are several possibilities. Republicans might hope that people grow bored with the issue and start focusing on other subjects. A smaller cohort of ultra-conservative Republicans, however, is dissatisfied that the documents have not been released. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion 'They're disappointed in Trump because they think that there's something hidden there, and they believe in transparency,' MacManus explained. Some Republicans might think that 'ultimately, at least some of this stuff will come out', implicating Democrat and Republican politicians alike. MacManus does not think that this issue will sway an election, however. 'I see this as something that goes out of the picture and comes back in and goes out and comes back in,' MacManus said. 'But I don't think it's enough to move somebody's vote if they're a Republican or if they're a Democrat, they're going to stick with their party.' Rick Wilson, the Lincoln Project co-founder and former Republican strategist, felt the document issue presented a dramatic problem for Trump. 'I just feel like they're in a really bad rut right now. I don't think they've got an easy way out of this,' Wilson said. Wilson said that recent polling he's conducted indicates that the controversy is not going away. 'Americans, and Republicans in particular, are paying attention to this story because there is a 'there' there for them,' he said. Matt Terrill, a Republican strategist and managing partner of public affairs firm Firehouse Strategies, said that at the moment, interest in the issue has died down for the time being. Americans are focused on issues such as the economy, and many are on vacation. When Congress returns, however, Terrill expects the controversy will also return to the forefront, but that doesn't mean the attention will be entirely on Trump. The House oversight committee subpoenaed Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as several former attorneys general and law enforcement officials, to testify about Epstein. 'That could take the spotlight off President Trump,' he said. Even if this diverts attention from the president, Terrill said it would behoove the administration to be more open about whatever is going on. 'There are many people in the Maga base who joined the Maga base because they want government transparency and they want accountability. They want justice and, for right or wrong, many people in the Maga base, and even those outside of the Maga base, feel as though they're not getting that right now with this situation.' 'So I do think it's important, if you're the administration, the Trump administration, to continue to put out everything you have in terms of this case,' he said. 'If you can't put things out, explain to the American people why you can't put those things out.'
The Sun
29 minutes ago
- The Sun
Strange texts ‘parent-killing teen' sent from behind bars as her family begs friends to come forward and defend her
THE family of an accused teen killer is begging friends to be character witnesses as The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal her chilling texts from behind bars. Sarah Grace Patrick, 17, is the main suspect following the deaths of her mom Kristin and her stepfather James Brock earlier this year. 6 6 6 The couple was shot dead in their bed in Carrollton, west of Atlanta, on February 20, 2025. Patrick's younger sister reportedly found the bodies and the teen herself called 911 to report the discovery. After a long investigation, Patrick was arrested and charged with murder in July. Although she is yet to formally enter a plea, her family insists she's innocent, and her father, Doniel Patrick, is backing his young daughter and appealing for help. In a new Facebook group, he dad told supporters, "Sarah was able to speak to the lawyers today about the hearing on the 19th. "We need people that know Sarah to write character witness notes and statements about her. "If you would like to do this please I'm begging you write a letter as soon as you can, let me know and I will send it over. " He added that the letters needed to be in to the judge before the hearing, adding, "Thank you all and God bless you all for your support." Family friend Carrie Jenson also shared screenshots of texts from Patrick, in which she thanked her supporters and bizarrely said she was proud of her loved ones. One message reads, "okay well if i could say anything id say im beyond greatful for the support and prayers and for yall givine me a voice, it means more than anyone could imagine (sic)." Teen girl's chilling social media posts before she was charged with double murder of mom & stepdad following eulogy In another message to Jenson, she wrote, "yes maam and it was good news yesterday i love yall and im so beyond proud of you and miss you guys so dang much." On August 11, her father claimed prison staff took Patrick to court even though she didn't have a hearing. He wrote, "I spoke to Sarah today. Today was a hard day for her. She woke up to them, taking her out of her room and taking her to court that she did not even have. She told them that she did not have court today and they still took her. they shackled her up Ankles and her wrist. "Took her to the court and made her sit in a tiny cell all day long with the cuffs so now her wrist and her ankles are hurting really bad but she made it through it. She just didn't understand what was going on. They shackled up her ankles." Patrick's father Doniel "I think there has to be a better process for things like this. It just doesn't make sense on a good note. She got to receive her canteen today so she got a lot of the goodies that she likes. "She's eating well. Or at least as well as she can. She is so happy to have all of you supporting her. Thank all of you. Just thought I would fill you in on her day. Hope everybody is having a good day." The U.S. Sun has reached out to authorities for comment but did not hear back. Patrick's many social media posts after the murders showed her seemingly distraught over the deaths, Yet they, along with a heartfelt speech at the funeral, reportedly made police suspicious. Carroll County sheriffs claim they have "mountains of evidence" against the teen. "I just want to go on the record and say I know everybody is talking. "Many people were talking about things that they don't even know. They are just talking and writing about stuff that is completely false. "Taking pictures of me leaving church to go to visit my daughter. If you have time to follow me around walk up to me talk to me I will talk to you. "My daughter is 100% innocent. If you wanna talk to anybody about me and my daughter's relationship come straight to me. I'm not hiding. "I'm going to work and doing all the normal things that I have to do to support my son. Nobody knows my pain, but I choose to deal with it the way that I have to. "I don't want all of attention like everybody else. February 21 I had to come home and tell my son that his mother and his stepfather were dead. "It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Until I had to take my daughter to the sheriff's office, I did not turn her in. "She voluntarily went there because of the warrants.. She has nothing to hide. I'm not the type of person that gets on social media. "I don't even pay attention to most of it. The only social media I have is Facebook and it's been ruined by this entire situation. "People are quick to judge when they don't even have any info. I have as much info as everybody else so where are you getting your info from? "If it's the media then you all should know how the media portrays everything. It's not about the truth. It's about viewership they will say anything. "Some of the stuff that I have seen and some of the media outlets have reported good stuff. "A lot of of them have reported bad stuff without any facts just assumptions and talking to people that don't know nothing. "My heart goes out to the Brock family and Kristin's. I will speak when it's time. Right now, I am trying to focus on my daughter, my children. "Not what everybody else is focusing on believe me I'm living it. I don't have to see it. To everybody out there that has kids to everybody out there that's paying attention. "God bless each and everyone of you. I hope that you never have to go through an experience like this.. as Pastor Ben said this Sunday I'm ready bring it on goliath." Source: Facebook Court documents seen by give an insight into Patrick's troubled childhood, which suggests her mom and stepdad were often taking drugs. Her dad filed for divorce from his wife, Kristin, in 2018 after a 10-year marriage, and he demanded joint legal custody of Patrick and her brother, Donnie, with "primary physical custody of the parties' minor child" and that any visits between his estranged wife and the children be supervised due to her alleged addiction issues. "The mother has unrehabilitated substance abuse issues and both she and her boyfriend fail to adequately provide a suitable drug-free environment for minor children," court docs read. They eventually agreed on joint legal custody, with primary physical custody given to Kristin, and Doniel seeing them on alternate weekends and holidays. Patrick remains behind bars and will next appear in court on August 19 for her bond hearing. The teen has been charged with two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault in connection with the deaths. 6 6 6
