A Reality TV Show about Debt Collectors? Really?

I get a lot of interesting email in my position as Editor of insideARM.com.  Besides all of the bizarre news that we opt not to run, I get letters from consumers who think I should personally keep all collectors in check and letters from collectors telling me that it’s my job to make sure every consumer pays their debts. And lots, and lots of spam, of course.

It’s not just spam, but what I like to call “next level” spam. I’m not talking about the blatant Nigerian prince stuff or offers to expand (or deflate) certain parts of my body. No, these are messages that look somewhat legit at first glance, but turn out to be cleverly-worded solicitations or something similar.

And that’s what I thought I was looking at in my inbox a couple of weeks ago – on April Fool’s Day, no less. A producer of reality TV shows was interested in picking our collective brain about a possible program involving debt collectors. “Well, this is fake,” I thought.

But it’s not. As was explained in the email, reality TV producers are looking for personalities to highlight in their shows. And this particular producer thinks there might be an opportunity in the debt collection industry given the right personality. Specifically, this production company focuses on shows that explore interesting work processes.

The ARM industry certainly does have an interesting process. No problem there. But I wonder what kind of personality they are looking for.

As with most things, this could be an opportunity for the industry to humanize the work collectors do. If the right person was showcased, it could be a really good thing. But if the wrong person was picked…well, we all know what would happen.

Any suggestions on that right person? Or is this even a good idea in the first place? We’re all ears.

UPDATE: Wow. This article has been live for about an hour and we’ve already had overwhelming response. So I guess I’ll be calling that producer.

In the meantime, a lot of people appear to want to shed some positive light on the ARM industry. We have just launched a contest that will allow you to do just that. We’re looking for the best stories from debt collectors, preferrably ones where a collector really helped out a consumer on a complicated case. Or it can be funny. Whatever. We’ll put the best five or so up to a vote and the winner will get a $50 gift card to Amazon.com.

It’s just the first in a series of contests we’ll be running through the spring and summer. Go to http://www.insidearm.com/go/story-contest for more info and to submit a story.