MARC record from Internet Archive

LEADER: 02884cam a2200373 i 4500
001 2014013576
003 DLC
005 20141202123817.0
008 140417s2014 nyu b 000 0 eng
010 $a 2014013576
020 $a9780374108236 (hardback)
020 $z9780374711245 (e-book)
040 $aDLC$beng$cDLC$erda$dDLC
042 $apcc
050 00 $aHG179$b.H247 2014
082 00 $a332.70973$223
084 $aBUS050000$2bisacsh
100 1 $aHalpern, Jake.
245 10 $aBad paper :$bchasing debt from Wall Street to the underworld /$cJake Halpern.
250 $aFirst edition.
264 1 $aNew York :$bFarrar, Straus and Giroux,$c2014.
300 $a240 pages ;$c22 cm
336 $atext$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$2rdamedia
338 $avolume$2rdacarrier
520 $a"A trip to the underworld of debt collection, where bankers team up with ex-burglars and few rules apply Bad Paper is a riveting expose;, a moving story of an unlikely friendship, and a gritty narrative of how scrappy entrepreneurs profit from our debts. Jake Halpern introduces us to a former banking executive and a former armed robber who become partners and go in quest of "paper"--the uncollected debts that are sold off by banks for pennies on the dollar. As Halpern shows, the world of consumer debt collection is a wild and unregulated shadowland, where operators may misrepresent a debtor's situation, make illegal threats, and even lay claim to debts that are not theirs to collect in the first place. It is a realm of indelible individuals who possess a swagger and vocabulary that even David Mamet could not invent. Halpern follows his collectors as they intimidate competitors with weapons, manage high-pressure call centers, and scheme new ways to benefit from American's debt-industrial complex. He also explores the history of collection agencies and reveals the human cost of a system that leaves hardworking Americans with little opportunity to retire their debts in a reasonable way. The result is a bravura work of storytelling that is also an important consciousness-raiser"--$cProvided by publisher.
520 $a"Frequent New Yorker contributor Jake Halpern investigates the shadowy, unregulated world of consumer debt collection, focusing on an unlikely friendship between a former banking executive and former armed robber who go in search of "paper," spreadsheets of uncollected debt sold off by banks for pennies on the dollar"--$cProvided by publisher.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 229-237).
650 0 $aFinance, Personal.
650 0 $aConsumer credit.
650 0 $aCollecting of accounts.
650 0 $aCollection agencies.
650 7 $aBUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Personal Finance / General.$2bisacsh
856 42 $3Cover image$uhttp://www.netread.com/jcusers2/bk1388/236/9780374108236/image/lgcover.9780374108236.jpg