Can Debt Collectors Come To Your House?
Posted on
June 17, 2009
at
12:26 am
Can debt collectors come to your home? I mean especially if it is not your house. You just live there. Can the debt collectors pursue debt collections if you are not around? I'm worried that they'd pester my friend. That's embarrassing.
Posted on
June 17, 2009
at
12:33 am
Debt collectors or your original creditors? Or lawyers? What kind of debt are they collecting from you? Credit card debt, is the person from a utility service company, or from the state or federal government? If the collector is from the government, then yes he/she can come to your house...otherwise, you'd have to be notified first if they are going to pay you a visit...
Posted on
June 17, 2009
at
12:41 am
According the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act § 805: A debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt: (1) at any unusual time or place or a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to the consumer. In the absence of knowledge of circumstances to the contrary, a debt collector shall assume that the convenient time for communicating with a consumer is after 8 o’clock antimeridian and before 9 o’clock postmeridian, local time at the consumer’s location;
Posted on
June 17, 2009
at
12:50 am
Thanks minutemaid, and I am not in that situation yet, I just overheard the woman next door and got to thinking of my own old credit card debts. Since I'm just crashing at my friend's for the time being, I am worried that he'd find out about my financial situation..and thank you whysosad for that, it's good to know that it is unlawful...but what if, even if I'm here, and it's business hours, and a collector just shows up?
Posted on
June 17, 2009
at
1:15 am
You'd first get a phone call, at least that's how most collector's first contact the debtor, and then they send you a formal notice within five days after they call you. The notice contains details such as how much you owe, from which creditor, and that you can request for the debt to be verified within 30 days.Debt collectors can't just show up unannounced and they can't tell anybody about your debt except yourself, the creditor, attorney representing you or the creditor/collector, and then the credit bureau.
Posted on
June 17, 2009
at
1:36 am
If the person is a real debt collector, he/she would contact you properly. The person would identify himself/herself, from which company he/she is from, the reason why he/she is there unannounced...you'd know it if the person is legitimate just by those and also by what the other posters have said. Notify the security guard of your place or the police if the person shows up again without a legitimate reason or purpose.
Posted on
June 17, 2009
at
2:19 am
Hi nagaraya, If it happens that you meet this debt collector, ask him/her to stop contacting you and never ever go to your house again, until he/she verifies your debt, if this person starts demanding payment in person or if he/she gives you an exact amount and a deadline...and not give you guidelines as to how to proceed with the issue, tell him/her that he/she is in violation of the FDCPA law, that coming to see you without your permission is harassment, and that you can sue him/her and the FDCPA can fine him/her $1,000.If somehow the person manages to give you a business address, write a letter that stays for them to stop contacting you, if they've recieved it, and still contacts you--report it to the authorities.
Posted on
June 17, 2009
at
2:24 am
I agree with what everybody has said. To add to all those, and most importantly, never admit to the debt nagaraya, and never state or promise that you are going to make payments. It has something to do with statute of limitations and its expiration on your supposed debt; admitting to it might start the clock running again (if ever you really owe that debt). Admitting to it and accepting the liability for it, is like validating it.
Posted on
June 17, 2009
at
2:29 am
Thank you everybody for the clarification and guidelines! This is a wake up call. I'll start looking for those old statements just in case a real debt collectors contacts me. Reading all of your replies made me realize that until the debt collector verifies the debt, I don't have to worry about anything. Thank you again!
Posted on
June 17, 2009
at
2:36 am
In response to minutemaid's inquiry about what kind of debt or debt collector can actually come to your house and demand payment "aggressively"--the answer is utility bills or your utility companies. They have to see you and they have to be physically there to disconnect certain services...if you don't come to a favorable agreement that is.
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