I was going to suggest the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but I suspect your links will be more productive.
I know out of pure spite I’d fight this to the ends of the Earth.
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I doubt it will either. However, it might help if you think of filing the complaints as either:
- This is a nasty business practice, and filing the complaints is something I can do to possibly prevent others from becoming victims; or
- These folks have really annoyed me; filing complaints that will possibly require them to respond to government officials, or embarrass them in the media is probably the only way I might be able to annoy them back.
One additional thought – after you’ve paid, you might also consider writing a complaint letter to the Town of West Hartford, sending copies to multiple folks (like town council members), expressing concern that your situation was an innocent mistake likely due to USPS’s failure to properly forward mail…but the delayed notice and resulting accrual of interest and penalties due to the delayed notice is an abusive business tactic on the part of the bill collector. You should include the town tax office on distribution if you do this…but they probably won’t care. However, if you contact other officials, and present an extremely polite and well-reasoned argument…maybe someone will be empathetic enough to seek change.
Edit: One additional media outlet to contact: https://we-ha.com/ While the site is primarily cheerleading and municipal promotion for West Hartford…if you piqued their interest enough to do a story, it might create some agitation for change.
(I’ve had a few experiences when advocating for my wife’s health and dealing with some unfortunate aspects of medical bills that I’ve unfortunately learned to think about how to most effectively make noise. I’d like to think I do it for “right” or to spare others the headaches I’ve had…but if I’m honest, I actually do it because I seek to annoy the people that have annoyed me.)
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