Debt collectors use the threats of lawsuits, fear, wage garnishment, and intimidation to get you to act on their request to pay a debt that may or may not be yours. These debt collectors companies use all types of different shenanigans to hound you from early morning until late evening until you cannot take it any longer. What can you do to get these wolves to stop harassing you every day?

You just want this harassment to stop and go far away. Every time you hear the telephone ring you feel a sense of dread to answer the telephone because it's the dreaded debt collector threatening you about a debt that may or may not be yours. When you speak with them and inform them that this debt is not yours, they still keep calling anyway, because they want someone to pay.

Debt collectors are hired by merchants to go after a debt that is owed to them from consumers who borrowed money or purchased goods or services on credit. The merchants sometimes try to collect these debts through their normal business practices, and when that fails and they do not want to waste any more time trying to collect a debt they hire debt collectors and offer them a percentage of the debt collected. Other times a merchant may feel a debt is a lost cause and they will sell that debt to a debt collector.

What are your rights as a consumer against debt collectors when they continue to harass you regarding debt? Can you tell these debt collectors to leave you alone and stop calling you about a particular debt that you may or may not owe to a previous merchant? Let's see what your rights are against debt collectors.

Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) there it states what protections you have as a consumer against debt collectors who are harassing you regarding a debt that you may or may not owe to a previous merchant.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/facing-debt-collection-know-your-rights

Below are questions and answers regarding your rights as a consumer;

"The fact is, you have some rights when it comes to dealing with debt collection agencies. They're spelled out in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which protects consumers from abusive, harassing, or unfair debt collection practices, and is enforced by the FTC. Here's the abbreviated version of the key provisions:

Under the FDCPA, debt collectors are not permitted to:

Contact you at work if you've told them verbally or in writing that your employer doesn't allow you to get such calls in the workplace.
Contact a third party about you for any reason other than getting your contact information; simply put, they may not tell anyone that you owe money.
Harass or abuse you or anyone else they contact about you.
Lie about the amount you owe
Use deceptive methods to collect a debt from you. For example, they may not:
Falsely claim to be law enforcement officers.
Claim that you'll be arrested if you don't pay your debt.
Threaten to seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or your wages & unless they are permitted by law to do it and intend to do so
Give false credit information about you to anyone, including a credit reporting company.
Use a fake company name.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency, enforces the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which prohibits debt collectors from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect from you.

Under the FDCPA, a debt collector is someone who regularly collects debts owed to others. This includes collection agencies, lawyers who collect debts on a regular basis, and companies that buy delinquent debts and then try to collect them.

Here are some questions and answers about your rights under the Act.

What types of debts are covered?

The Act covers personal, family, and household debts, including money you owe on a personal credit card account, an auto loan, a medical bill, and your mortgage. The FDCPA doesn't cover debts you incurred while running a business.

Can a debt collector contact me at any time or any place?

No. A debt collector may not contact you at inconvenient times or places, such as before 8 in the morning or after 9 at night unless you agree to it. And collectors may not contact you at work if they're told (orally or in writing) that you're not allowed to get calls there.

How can I stop a debt collector from contacting me?

If a collector contacts you about a debt, you may want to talk to them at least once to see if you can resolve the matter and even if you don't think you owe the debt, can't repay it immediately, or think that the collector is contacting you by mistake. If you decide after contacting the debt collector that you don't want the collector to contact you again, tell the collector in writing & to stop contacting you. Here's how to do that:

Make a copy of your letter. Send the original by certified mail, and pay for a return receipt so you can document what the collector received. Once the collector receives your letter, they may not contact you again, with two exceptions: a collector can contact you to tell you there will be no further contact or to let you know that they or the creditor intend to take a specific action, like filing a lawsuit.
Sending such a letter to a debt collector you owe money to does not get rid of the debt, but it should stop the contact. The creditor or the debt collector still can sue you to collect the debt.

Can a debt collector contact anyone else about my debt?

If an attorney is representing you about the debt, the debt collector must contact the attorney, rather than you. If you don't have an attorney, a collector may contact other people but only to find out your address, your home phone number, and where you work. Collectors usually are prohibited from contacting third parties more than once. Other than to obtain this location information about you, a debt collector generally is not permitted to discuss your debt with anyone other than you, your spouse, or your attorney.

What does the debt collector have to tell me about the debt?

Every collector must send you a written validation notice telling you how much money you owe within five days after they first contact you. This notice also must include the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money, and how to proceed if you don't think you owe the money.

Can a debt collector keep contacting me if I don't think I owe any money?

If you send the debt collector a letter stating that you don't owe any or all of the money, or asking for verification of the debt, that collector must stop contacting you. You have to send that letter within 30 days after you receive the validation notice. But a collector can begin contacting you again if it sends you written verification of the debt, like a copy of a bill for the amount you owe.

What practices are off-limits for debt collectors?

Harassment. Debt collectors may not harass, oppress, or abuse you or any third parties they contact. For example, they may not:

Use threats of violence or harm;
Publish a list of names of people who refuse to pay their debts (but they can give this information to the credit reporting companies);
Use obscene or profane language; or
Repeatedly use the phone to annoy someone.
False statements. Debt collectors may not lie when they are trying to collect a debt. For example, they may not:

falsely claim that they are attorneys or government representatives;
falsely claim that you have committed a crime;
falsely represent that they operate or work for a credit reporting company;
misrepresent the amount you owe;
indicate that papers they send you are legal forms if they aren't; or
indicate that the papers they send to you aren't legal forms if they are.

Debt collectors also are prohibited from saying that:

You will be arrested if you don't pay your debt;
They'll seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages unless they are permitted by law to take the action and intend to do so; or
Legal action will be taken against you if doing so would be illegal or if they don't intend to take the action.

Debt collectors may not:

give false credit information about you to anyone, including a credit reporting company;
send you anything that looks like an official document from a court or government agency if it isn't; or
use a false company name.

Unfair practices. Debt collectors may not engage in unfair practices when they try to collect a debt. For example, they may not:

Try to collect any interest, fee, or other charge on top of the amount you owe unless the contract that created your debt or your state law allows the charge;
Deposit a post-dated check early;
Take or threaten to take your property unless it can be done legally; or
Contact you by postcard.
Can I control which debts my payments apply to?
Yes. If a debt collector is trying to collect more than one debt from you, the collector must apply any payment you make to the debt you select. Equally important, a debt collector may not apply a payment to a debt you don't think you owe.
Can a debt collector garnish my bank account or my wages?
If you don't pay a debt, a creditor or its debt collector generally can sue you to collect. If they win, the court will enter a judgment against you. The judgment states the amount of money you owe, and allows the creditor or collector to get a garnishment order against you, directing a third party, like your bank, to turn over funds from your account to pay the debt. Wage garnishment happens when your employer withholds part of your compensation to pay your debts. Your wages usually can be garnished only as a result of a court order. Don't ignore a lawsuit summons. If you do, you lose the opportunity to fight a wage garnishment.
Can federal benefits be garnished?
Many federal benefits are exempt from garnishment, including:
- Social Security Benefits
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Benefits
- Veterans Benefits
- Civil Service and Federal Retirement and Disability Benefits
- Military Annuities and Survivors Benefits
- Federal Emergency Management Agency Federal Disaster Assistance
- Federal benefits may be garnished under certain circumstances, including to pay delinquent taxes, alimony, child support, or student loans.
- Do I have any recourse if I think a debt collector has violated the law?
- You have the right to sue a collector in a state or federal court within one year from the date the law was violated. If you win, the judge can require the collector to pay you for any damages you can prove you suffered because of illegal collection practices, like lost wages and medical bills. The judge can require the debt collector to pay you up to $1,000, even if you can't prove that you suffered actual damages. You also can be reimbursed for your attorney's fees and court costs. A group of people also may sue a debt collector as part of a class action lawsuit and recover money for damages up to $500,000, or one percent of the collector's net worth, whichever amount is lower. Even if a debt collector violates the FDCPA in trying to collect a debt, the debt does not go away if you owe it.
- What should I do if a debt collector sues me?
- If a debt collector files a lawsuit against you to collect a debt, respond to the lawsuit, either personally or through your lawyer, by the date specified in the court papers to preserve your rights.
- Where do I report a debt collector for an alleged violation?
- Report any problems you have with a debt collector to your state Attorney General's office, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Many states have their debt collection laws that are different from the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Your Attorney General's office can help you determine your rights under your state's law."
- https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/facing-debt-collection-know-your-rights

Debt and your Rights

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12 days ago

Debt collectors use the threats of lawsuits, fear, wage garnishment, and intimidation to get you to act on their request to pay a debt that may or may not be yours.