We’re often asked about the top debt collectors in the country, so we’ve been doing a countdown of the top 20. Today we’re covering number 10, Nationwide Credit Corporation.

Nationwide Credit collects on a variety of types of debt, including health care, telecommunications, retail, utility, banking, property management, credit card, commercial, and government. They collect on a contingency fee basis, which means that they get a portion of what the collect - a powerful incentive to use whatever means necessary in order to get consumers to pay.

Regarding the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the company says that their collectors “are trained to work successfully within its framework.” Yet in 1998, Nationwide Credit paid what was then a record $1 million civil penalty to the Federal Trade Commission for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. According to the FTC, “Nationwide’s debt collectors harassed consumers, made false and misleading representations, failed to send required validation notices, failed to verify debts when requested to do so by consumers, and made impermissible third party contacts regarding consumers’ debts.” This was on the heels of a 1992 civil penalty of $100,00 for the same charges.