What to Do When You Are Being Contacted by Debt Collectors

• Author: William Asher
• Posted: 2024-07-31

One of the biggest nightmares that you can face is repeated calls from debt collectors telling you that you owe money. It is demeaning and difficult. However, they have the legal right to contact you so long as they follow the laws. It is important to know the limitations on their conduct ahead of time and what you can do if you are receiving phone calls and other communications from collections agencies.

The first thing that you need to know is that the law regulates the activities of debt collectors. In 1977, Congress passed a bill called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This bill was not intended to keep collections agencies from doing their job. It was intended to keep them from abusing customers and resorting to other deceptive and underhanded tactics.

Debt Collectors Are Allowed to Call You, But They Are Subject to Limits

This means that debt collectors are allowed to call you. They can even contact you more than once. Provided that they follow the rules, there is nothing to say that they are not allowed to be persistent to get the money owed. The mere act of calling a debtor is not illegal. Even the existing rules allow them to call you between 8AM - 9PM. This means that debt collectors can call you while you are eating dinner and even while you are at work as long as they do not tell your coworkers.

However, there are limits on what debt collectors are allowed to do in pursuance of money. The first thing that they must do is identify themselves. They must say who they really are and why they are calling. They need to state exactly what the debt is owed and to whom it is owed. The agent cannot make any misrepresentations in these or any other areas when they call.

The debt collector is even allowed to threaten you with a lawsuit if you do not pay the debt. There is nothing in the law that prohibits them from pressuring you as long as they do not use abusive or profane language. As you can see, collections agents have some latitude to do their job. However, there are lines. For example, they cannot threaten you with arrest or publish information about your debt or even talk to third parties about it.

You Can Limit Debt Collectors by Sending Them a Letter in Writing

You have the ability to set your own limits on what debt collectors are able to do when it comes to contacting you. For example, if the debt collector calls you while you are at work, you have the right to tell them not to contact you at work, and they must listen. Even further, you have the ability to tell them to stop contacting you at all.

However, in order to limit the debt collector, these requests must be made in writing. A verbal request is not enough. If you hang up the phone in anger and tell the debt collector never to call again, that is not enough to get them to stop. In the letter, you should put detailed limits on what you want in terms or further communication. You can even allow them to keep calling but with limits.

When you are first contacted by a debt collector, it is important to start documenting everything right away. This includes keeping a little of the time that the debt collector contacted you and what they said. It is also important to keep all the letters that you receive.

If you find that the debt collector is starting to cross the line, you have the power to take certain steps to punish them for their behavior. You are allowed to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC is the government entity that regulates debt collectors, and they can take regulatory enforcement if the collections agency has broken the law.

You also have the right to file a lawsuit against the collections agency for illegal practices. The law only gives you $1,000 in damages, so filing a lawsuit on your own may not be worth your time. However, if you have suffered other damages such as emotional distress from the harassment, you can recover that too. This will send an unmistakable message to the collections agency that their behavior is over the top and it needs to end.