An agent from a unknown call center reached out to me. The name was so random and I never heard of the company before and don’t even remember the letters of the name. Don’t think my memory is terrible, the company letters don’t make a word. I figure I would have remembered a word even if the word was odd or hard to pronounce, but this is just a set of letters. It sounded like some initials, something like ITS or ITCS or something else even more random.
The first thing the guy who called wanted to do was to ask me to verify my identification. He wanted me to give my private information to him. Umm, didn’t you call me? And, who the heck are you? I’m a born skeptic and really concerned about my privacy. So, I don’t easily give out my information to anyone. After a little polite back and forth, I gave him enough information for him to share the reason for his call. His company is the collection agency for the City of New York. Clearly, the City has decided to actively work to collect the $1,600 that they say I owe.
How annoying! By the way, I’ve never received a bill.
Since this guy is only a messenger for the people who annoy me most, I did not project my dislike of this situation on him. Rather, I asked a few questions. One of them was what were the options if I didn’t have the money. He said I could set up a payment plan. My first thought was that a payment plan sounds like a good option. Then I got the details of the payment plan.
According to him, any payment plan needs to be set up with the Department of Finance and then get back in touch with the collection agency to set it up. The fine print:
- 33% Down
- Payments of a minimum of $100/month
- Payment completed within 12 months
Seems to me this is not a generous option. At this point, you know I think we don’t have a generous City dealing with these home sharing violations. If you are doing home sharing because you need the money and get surprised by a fine, you’re not likely to have 33% of this fine lying around ready to turn over to the City.
There are so many people that think they are doing the right thing and the City hasn’t helped share the truth. Everyday hard working people are at risk. As the City works to implement law to give the Office of Special Enforcement easy access to our front doors and write as many tickets as they can, we need people to know the truth.
Actions of the day:
- Share this blog with someone you know sharing their home in NYC
- Follow The Home Sharing Association of America on Facebook.