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Debt Destroy

How to Stop Debt Collector Harrassment

There are some debt collectors who take their jobs very seriously, but completely ignore regulations designed to protect consumers. They will do or say just about anything to get their clients (debtors) to repay their debts. Debt collectors are typically hired by lenders to attempt to collect a debt on their behalf, although sometimes, debt collectors are another department within the same company. In 1977, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was passed to provide protection from consumers from abusive third-party debt collection practices. Here is the protection this act provides to you – and what to do if a debt collector is in violation of any of these provisions:

What Debt Collectors CANNOT Do:


  • Call you at work if you've specifically told them your employer doesn't approve of phone calls at the workplace.
  • Call you before 8am or after 9pm.
  • Lie to you
  • Imply that you've committed a crime.
  • Conceal their identity.
  • Ignore a written request from you that asks them to stop contacting you via telephone.
  • Harass or abuse you.
  • Send you a notice about a court judgement that isn't real.
  • Call someone else, other than your spouse, to talk about your debt.
  • Use profanities when talking to you on the phone
  • Threaten you or your personal property with violence.
  • Publish a listing (except to credit reporting bureaus) regarding your debt.
  • Contact you if you have an attorney to represent you regarding your debt.
  • Threaten to garnish your wages if they have no intention of doing so.
  • Add fees and additional charges to the amount you owe.
 



Are Your Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Rights Being Violated?

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act offers protection to consumers who are in debt – but only if they know how to use it. If your rights under the FDCPA are violated, you have up to one year to file a lawsuit against the debt collector. If you are awarded the case, you will be reimbursed for attorney fees, actual damages, and up to $1,000 additional money. 

If you think your rights have been violated by aggressive debt collectors, you can do something about it under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This article from About.com explains some of your options.

Comments

Brian Hill (Guest) - daniel, i bet you never stopped to realize, that most of the people today who are trying to "avoid" these debt collectors, once had the money to pay off the things that they had bought with credit cards. but seeing how this recession has caused many americans to either lose their jobs, or take a pay cut, it became almost impossible to pay of the debts that they have been able to pay off in the past. Yes, in some aspects, you're correct, a lot of people are trying to weasle their ways out of paying back the money they "borrowed", doing anything they can to work around the system, but what you failed to realize is that there are people out there that once had high paying jobs, that could pay for what the bought. So no, for these people, they didn't "steal" any money, the lack of seeing into the future pretty much sums up why nobody knew the stock market was going to crash, hense, why nobody stopped spending.
Kutti (Guest) - The rise of collection law firms. In the past, people often were given the advice not to talk to debt collectors -- to simply hang up when they called. The idea was that anything you said could be used against you, so it was better to say nothing. These days, however, people who refuse to talk to collectors may be more likely to get sued. "More creditors are working with collection law firms," as opposed to regular collection agencies, said credit expert Gerri Detweiler, author of several books on savings and debt. "If you don't respond, you could run the risk of triggering a lawsuit." While collection agencies can hassle you and report your bad debts to credit bureaus, they have to hire a law firm to actually sue you and garnishee your paychecks. Collection law firms can skip the middleman, making them much quicker to sue.
StopDebtCollectors (Guest) - Great article. BTW, to Daniel: In this economy, are you really going to sit there and call people "losers" for not being able to pay their bills, when unemployment has reached levels that have not been so high since the Great Depression? Are you not in touch with reality? When debt collectors call and make illegal threats, or step outside of the law in any way, then they are the ones breaking the law. And there is a reason they call it "unsecured debt..." Because it is lent with the specific knowledge up front that there is NO guarantee of it being repaid - hence "unsecured..." No one I know that has ever been harassed by Debt Collectors had gotten into that position because they WANTED to or INTENDED not to pay their debt back. People lose jobs, lose businesses, and worse. So get off your ridiculous high-horse and just wait until your financial security becomes jeopardized in some way. You'll regret your words. For anyone looking for amunition against debt collector thugs, check out this site about how to stop debt collectors.
Debit Collection Lawyer (Guest) - Getting a credit report was simple, whats with...one time each month) and the 2,000 in credit card debt. they did say i ...few documents , but will this solve the problem? has this happened to you are, Debt collection lawyer should solve  the problem. If it doesn't, then contact each CRA still refusing to send your reports and request to be transferred.
robert (Guest) - Abuse? The debt collection companies need to be shutdown anyway . How do they think that calling and telling you that we'll embarrass you on your job and call your neighbors and tell them that you are a dead beat etc... I have had them tell me this before . phoenix credit solutions  told my wife "WE WILL GET YOU" !! Now they are trying to get a court order to take property on an unsecured credit card. They already froze her bank account and we have not figured out how they did this. In nc you cannot do this on an unsecured debt. Could anybody tell me how they did this?

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