Credit card debt collection agencies can be very difficult to work with.
Despite tough new government regulations to protect people from abusive credit card debt collection practices, many unscrupulous collectors continue to routinely ignore the law and make calls in the middle of the night, use abusive language and even threaten to have people fired from work or thrown into jail.
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"Rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt."
- Benjamin Franklin |
All of these tactics are illegal and if you understand your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and learn a few tricks to deal with such collectors, you can gain control of the situation fairly quickly.
Credit card debt collection representives keep looking for ways to force you to pay up. It is their job to get you to write that check and they know that being 'mean' and playing on your emotions works well.
Also, many collectors take advantage of the consumer ignorance of the FDCPA law.
Debt collection is a huge industry, totaling over $15 billion dollars a year and growing fast. Thousands of companies buy debts for pennies on the dollar in the US today and then try to recover what is owed.
These credit card collection agencies contact the consumer and attempt to negotiate a pay back, and they are good at finding out where borrowers live and work. They will not hesitate to contact you by phone, mail and even fax and sometimes even by telegram.
Researching, learning and understanding your rights under the FDCPA should be your mission so that you can stop illegal collector harassment and have peace of mind.
Unless you are aware of the law and fully understand how to use it, you would be at the mercy of unethical credit card debt collection agencies, who use underhanded and illegal tactics to intimidate you into paying expired or invalid debts that you just can't afford.
You have several rights under the FDCPA. You can request that the collector does not contact you anymore or only contact you by mail. Collectors cannot threaten you or pretend to be an employee of a major credit bureau. Neither can they tell you that you owe more than you actually do, or use obscenities, or claim that you are guilty of a crime.
It's hard to believe this happens in our society today, but it does happen, all the time, so protect yourself by becoming knowledgeable about your rights as a consumer.
Ideally, the collector will contact you via a letter. You have only 30 days to dispute any facts. If there are errors, you should notify the collector and the related creditors immediately. Keep notes about all your communication with collectors and retain copies of all correspondence.
Carefully review the information posted by the collection agency on your credit report. It is an all-to-common practice for collectors to report incorrect facts to the bureaus in order to speed up negotiations.
After verifying that the debt is accurate, consider your options. It is better, in most cases, to negotiate a deal, pay off the collector and rebuild your credit.
Remember, you are not a victim here unless you allow yourself to be one. You also more than likely do owe the company some money and it is your obligation to repay what you owe, so take full ownership of that fact and get on with the business of cleaning up the mess.
Never, never, NEVER give anyone your checking account number. Even if they say they won't charge your account until a certain due date, don't believe them. Once you give them your account information they will bleed you dry anytime there is any money at all in the account. Be smart, protect yourself.
Always make sure the credit card debt collection agent sends you the terms of any settlement in writing and refuse to pay until he does. You may need the letter if the debt resurfaces again later.
"Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into,
but hard enough to get out of."
- Henry Wheeler Shaw |
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Debt is NOT your friend. It's not a wonderful "tool" for building wealth. That's a myth.
