The North Carolina Bankruptcy Information Blog

As bad as collection agents can be in America, their efforts pale in comparison to the debt reconciliation efforts that are allowed in Dubai, the most populous state within the United Arab Emirates and the penultimate symbol of Middle Eastern opulence.

In Dubai, which is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula, those who bounce a check, miss a rent payment or go into debt of any kind, are subject to arrest, incarceration and a quick prosecution that in many cases will mean time behind bars. Before you think this is part of some outdated law that rarely gets enforced, like many bizarre American laws that show up on funny e-mail chains–think again.…

In July, the number of people who defaulted on their credit cards dropped for the first time in several months, leaving many financial experts to wonder about the cause.

In the midst of speculation that the recession may be turning around, bankruptcy filings continue to climb and many debt management and bankruptcy attorneys cite a rise in the number of people leveraging retirement funds to stay afloat. Additionally, running contrary to the default reports is evidence supplied by some credit card issuers that in July, there was an increase in those who fell behind on payments, but have yet to reach default status.…

Sometimes debt collection can have a humorous side. Usually, it shows itself when the collection is happening to someone else. Schadenfreude aside, here are some collection agent slip-ups that AOL gathered from a number of their users. See if you can’t relate to some of their situations.

• A family who runs a retail business was disputing an invoice that showed they owed double their original order for supplies. Turns out, a sales rep had inadvertently doubled their order. The timing was terrible, as the rep soon after left on maternity leave and the company stated only she could repair the mistake.

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