On Sunday night's episode of Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver dug into the nasty (and sometimes illegal) practices of debt collectors in America. Over the course of the 20-minute segment, Oliver exposed just how awful the state of the American debt industry is, and the lack of regulation in place for companies looking to collect on the $12.25 trillion that American households collectively owe.
"It is pretty clear by now [that] debt buying is a grimy business, and badly needs more oversight because, as it stands, any idiot can get into it," Oliver said. "I can prove that to you because I'm an idiot, and we started a debt-buying company."
He went on to describe how simple it was to incorporate a debt acquisition company in Mississippi under the name of Central Asset Recovery Professionals (CARP). It didn't take long before the company was offered a portfolio of close to $15 million in out-of-statute medical debt from Texas, which was valued at less than $60,000. CARP then bought it, but instead of harassing people to pay down their bills, they forgave it.
"On one hand, it's obviously the right thing to do," Oliver said, "but much more importantly, we'd be staging the largest one-time giveaway in television history."
He referenced Oprah's 2004 "you get a car" giveaway in which she doled out close to $8 million worth of Pontiac G6 sedans, noting that Last Week Tonight forgiving its massive portfolio of medical debt nearly doubled that figure.
At the end of the segment, Oliver deemed himself the new "queen of daytime television." But, really, we'll agree to give him that title and more if he finds a way to forgive the collective $1.2 trillion in student loan debt that the country currently faces.
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