If debt collectors are harassing you, you do have recourse. Take the following steps to stop harassing collection calls.
Understand your rights
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act of 1978, debtors are protected from harassment by debt collectors. The FDCPA stipulates when, where and with whom the debt collector may communicate as well as what collection practices are prohibited. The act defines harassment as threats to the debtor’s person, reputation or property; obscene or abusive language; repetitious and annoying phone calls; publicizing lists of debtors to coerce payment; and making calls without identifying themselves. According to the FDCPA, if a consumer refuses to pay a debt or asks the debt collector to cease communication, the collector must comply with few exceptions.
Review the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to understand how the law applies to you and your callers.
Keep records of all communications
If you are being harassed by a collection agency, keep all correspondence, including account statements, emails, and text messages. In states with a one-party consent law, you may choose to record phone calls without the caller’s permission. If your state does not permit secret phone recordings, keep a written record of all calls.
Build a record of harassment in the event you choose to submit a complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau against the debt collector for violating the FDCPA.
Demand debt verification
Debt collectors are required to submit basic information about a debt within five days of contacting you should you request it, including the amount of the debt, the name of the current creditor, and notices about your rights to verify and dispute the debt. If you dispute or request validation of your debt, the collector must stop all collection activity until your debt has been verified.
Request debt verification to ensure the information concerning your debt is accurate and to temporarily stay collection activity.
Tell the collector to stop calling
Under FDCPA, a debt collector must cease communications with you if you submit a written letter demanding they cease and desist future communications with you or anyone related to you whom the collector may have been contacting. Once the collector has received your letter, they can only contact you to inform you that they are ending communications or to inform you they are sending the account to an attorney to initiate a lawsuit.
Send a written cease and desist letter by certified mail to stop future communication efforts.
File a bankruptcy petition
While each of the above actions can stop harassing collection calls, they don’t address the issue of debt repayment. Avoiding harassment doesn’t free you from financial strain or improve your credit score. Eventually, the collection agency will merely sell your debt to another agency, starting the entire process over again. To eliminate your debt and permanently end harassing phone calls, it’s necessary to take action, which often means filing bankruptcy. Once your petition has been accepted, an automatic stay is ordered which prevents creditors from attempting any further collection activity.
End collection activity permanently by filing bankruptcy and settling debts.
If you’re overwhelmed by calls from debt collectors, give the Law Offices of Jeffrey Lohman a call today to see how we can help.