As part of a scathing takedown of the debt-purchasing industry, late night comedian John Oliver forgave almost $15 million of medical debt with a tap of a giant red button on Sunday night.
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Oliver took these steps as part of a broader assault on the debt-collecting industry.
The Last Week Tonight host started his own acquisition company called Central Asset Recover Professionals after conducting an expose on the debt-collection industry and came up with a means to pay $15Million debt for 9000 people.
To prove how easy it is to get into debt collecting, Last Week Tonight purchased its own debt acquisition company in MS for about $50.
Oliver then gave the debt away, bragging that his giveaway was bigger than Winfrey’s – her vehicle giveaway was estimated at US$7 million – and completed the show by pressing a giant red button that triggered a rain shower of dollar bills. Because of the amount at issue, the comedian said, he has now topped an $8 million vehicle giveaway to audience members during an Oprah show in 2004. Oliver tweeted a link to his debt segment with the message: “Your move, Oprah”. 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 now faces.
Back to John, and following the clearance, he reminded us that this was only the start of the fightback on dodgy debt collection.
Oliver said it had cost US$50 to create his company, after which he received the portfolio offering the names, current addresses and Social Security numbers of about 9,000 people. “And it was disturbingly easy”.
“Now, clearly, this is only going to help the 9,000 people whose medical debt we bought”.
Within a few hours of Oliver’s show airing, people were writing to Antico’s blog to see if their debt was included in what Oliver purchased. “We need much clearer rules and oversight”.
As Oliver explains, debt buyers will routinely purchase debt from creditors and the like whereupon they then go after specific individuals with a vengeance.
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Oliver cited a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of NY that estimates Americans owe a total of $12.25 trillion in debt.
