Okay. Here's the scenario. A good friend of mine who has no debt whatsoever, helped me achieve my goal of becoming debt free last year. He has always been good with money and I was amazed at how much he was able to help me considering he has never been in debt a day in his life. While I was drowning (in debt), I would think to myself, "what the heck does he know, he's never even walked one step in my shoes". He loaned me personal finance books, he helped me sell some of my stuff, he even got me some side work with his father which really helped knock my debts out. And at the end of it all, when I made my final debt payment, he said something about there being no greater reward than knowing you truly helped someone. And that was his reward in all of this.
Recently, however, I really have to wonder whether or not he believes that. While he helped me, just a friend, get out of debt and stuck with me through it all, he takes a VERY different approach with his brother. His brother is in fact a dead beat. He has never once tried helping him the way he did me. In fact, it's like Jeckyll and Hyde. With me, it was "oh, don't settle for less than what you owe, do the RIGHT thing". With his brother, it's all "don't you worry about a thing, every time one of those collectors calls, I got your back, I tell them I've never heard of you, they can't prove a thing". He lies for his brother all the time and supports his running up of debts never paying them off. He also thinks that if he lies long enough and they don't find his brother, then time will run out and he will no longer be liable for anything. I'm just baffled at what a different view he takes when it comes to his brother. And the whole family just sits back and laughs about it. And I have had enough.
I listened to one of the collections calls that my friend received at his house for his brother this past weekend. My friend played them and just laughed about how his dead beat brother got over on them and they're the stupid ones for trusting such a dead beat in the first place. Again, I was just at a loss at how the same person who helped me with practically the same situation has suddenly just tossed all his financial sense and good advice right out the window. So, the wheels started turning in my head. I would like to do something IF it is possible. I want to call one of the collectors and turn his brother in. His brother lives out of state, and for some reason, the collectors can't seem to locate him. They keep calling my friend and his other relatives instead. But, I can lead them right to him. The problem is, will the collectors accept anonymous information? And by anonymous, I mean I don't even want them to say "yeah, we found you because a guy called and told us where you were". Because then, my friend and his family would eventually piece it together, and that would be....well, not good for me.
I don't want to ruin a 15 plus year friendship, but at the same time, they guy needs to be held responsible, regardless of how his family feels. How do collectors handle things like this? Would a collector be willing to trade complete anonymity for valuable information? Or would they be required by law to tell my friend's dead beat brother (when they do catch up to him) how they found him? Because he WILL ask. And then my friend and his family will play detective and try and figure out what happened if they say that they found him by way of an anonymous tip. I could do it. I could turn him in. I have no problem with that. It's just a matter of will it get traced back to me?
Recently, however, I really have to wonder whether or not he believes that. While he helped me, just a friend, get out of debt and stuck with me through it all, he takes a VERY different approach with his brother. His brother is in fact a dead beat. He has never once tried helping him the way he did me. In fact, it's like Jeckyll and Hyde. With me, it was "oh, don't settle for less than what you owe, do the RIGHT thing". With his brother, it's all "don't you worry about a thing, every time one of those collectors calls, I got your back, I tell them I've never heard of you, they can't prove a thing". He lies for his brother all the time and supports his running up of debts never paying them off. He also thinks that if he lies long enough and they don't find his brother, then time will run out and he will no longer be liable for anything. I'm just baffled at what a different view he takes when it comes to his brother. And the whole family just sits back and laughs about it. And I have had enough.
I listened to one of the collections calls that my friend received at his house for his brother this past weekend. My friend played them and just laughed about how his dead beat brother got over on them and they're the stupid ones for trusting such a dead beat in the first place. Again, I was just at a loss at how the same person who helped me with practically the same situation has suddenly just tossed all his financial sense and good advice right out the window. So, the wheels started turning in my head. I would like to do something IF it is possible. I want to call one of the collectors and turn his brother in. His brother lives out of state, and for some reason, the collectors can't seem to locate him. They keep calling my friend and his other relatives instead. But, I can lead them right to him. The problem is, will the collectors accept anonymous information? And by anonymous, I mean I don't even want them to say "yeah, we found you because a guy called and told us where you were". Because then, my friend and his family would eventually piece it together, and that would be....well, not good for me.

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