Debt collectors and the Law – Know your rights
February 10th, 2010
To gain control in any situation, their understanding of the fundamentals of the law will help. It's no different in the awkward handling of calls from debt collectors.
The collection agencies are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Consumer complaints filed with the FTC against companies that are among the highest-volume collections of abuses in the nation. The epic proportions of the volume of complaints indicate no widespread abuses taking place in the collections agencies.
Here are some basic things you should know:
R. You have the right to know who is talking to the
One of the favorite tricks of the collection is to suggest or hint that they are a lawyer or a law enforcement officer who is on his way home with a sheriff to arrest you if you do not make an immediate payment. This is a flagrant violation of the law, and must report to the FTC. A debt collector must identify you as an agent for debt collections.
B. You have the right to a civil conversation
Many people believe that some of these laws civil conversation subjective and certainly everyone has a different tolerance to the talks of abuse. In general, agents of the collections are not allowed to threaten his safety call you names or use bad words to you. They are not allowed to call repeatedly or contact you during the middle of the night. However, literally tens of thousands of complaints are filed against debt collectors with the FTC for violations of the key consumer rights. If you are a victim of abuse, threat or fear for their safety should the collection agency report to the FTC, and also sends a written notice to stop. Keep a copy of all letters, voicemails, and contacts.
C. You have the right to be called at a time of day when you can talk
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act states that you may be contacted your local time 8-9.
D. You have the right to privacy
Surprisingly, the third collector has the right to call his family or neighbors to determine where they reside. Knowing that on the contrary are not allowed to use these people to pressure or intimidate you or tell you that in like fashion gossip who owes you money.
E. You have the right to accurate information about alleged debts you owe
Mistakes are made, sometimes you can be contacted for the debts that you should not. Be sure to check each of the debt as accurate. The collection agencies can not claim the debt he owes more than they do. Be sure how much you supposedly owe. Often they will tell you that you will be arrested or have their wages garnished for not paying them, this is false in all circumstances unless already submitted with a subpoena, taken to court and received a sentence against him.
F. You have the right to dispute the amount owed if it is incorrect
Calls from debt collector must inform you of how much is due, must be able to verify, since they acquired the right to collect the debt. Removal of your name, company and address and write a letter stating that they refuse to pay the debt, at that time are forced to stop trying to collect this from you. Attention! If the amount of debt is high enough, its refusal to pay on time can trigger legal action against him to try to force you to pay. If a debt goes unpaid for a period of time and no action is taken against you, until the statute of limitations has passed in your state, be aware that your debt can be sold again to another collection agency.Once the statute of limitations has passed in your state and any debt collection agency debt at that date, you can use the line from the Wizard of Oz, when Glenda the Good Witch tells the Wicked Witch East, "Be gone!" It has no power here. "
If a debt collector is breaking these simple rules and being abusive then demand to speak to a supervisor. Once you're talking to a person in authority, tell them clearly intends to take the case to the Federal Trade Commission, state attorney and the Better Business Bureau. Sometimes it's a long time and a nuisance, but be sure to resave all voice messages and letters, and take detailed notes of who called when and how often and what they said. People are winning lawsuits against collection agencies every month if they have an accurate record of abusive tactics.