(CARP) and purchase $15 million in medical debt., then forgave it all on national television.
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He revealed his show (which has previously illuminated unethical financial practices by payday lenders and television preachers) started its own debt collection agency, bought the debt of almost 9,000 Americans, only to forgive their $15 million in medical dues-making it the largest giveaway in TV history.
The show created it’s own debt-buying company called Central Asset Recovery Professionals, Inc., or CARP, named after the bottom-feeding fish.
Oliver dug deep into the sordid inner story of the mostly unregulated industry and revealed the way in which people can buy and collect consumer debt in several of the states, without a license.
This type of debt buying for charity originated with Rolling Jubilee, an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Oliver added CARP was legally authorized to assume control of a file bearing all the names, personal addresses and Social Security numbers of the thousands of people who owed them and have its employees start contacting them. 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.
During the segment Oliver explained American households owe more than $12trillion in debt, $436billion of which is more than 90 days overdue.
In a move that now holds the record for largest TV giveaway, Oliver “gave away” the US$14.9 million by having his company forgive the debt, which is apparently something you can do.
American households are now responsible for over $12 trillion in debt, debt which can purchased by debt-buying companies for fractions of a penny and aggressively re-collected.
“It’s absolutely fabulous”, said Craig Antico, CEO of RIPMedicaldebt.org.
At a time in which it seems like all the news about celebrities is negative, let’s give a round of applause to John Oliver, who just did something, well, awesome, simply for the sake of doing good.
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Cheekily, Oliver went on. You get a vehicle.
