Creditor
Harassment
Those of us
who've been through the ringer of a lost job, lower income than expected, or
emergencies, know the dread and anger that can come from creditor collection
calls. Creditors are infamous for their sometimes harsh methods of collection
like scare tactics, threats and worst of all, the incessant whine.
Disclaimer:
This section does not condone or recommend that you skirt your
responsibilities to your creditors, nor does it claim to have even the
slightest shred of legal advise for you. If you are dealing with a real
"clincher" of a problem, we, as always, suggest you talk to a debt consolidation
expert or a credit attorney.
Ok. Here goes:
For starters, here's a quote from the FTC's website directly out of the "Fair
Debt Collection Practices Act" (FDCPA) which shows the recent findings of the
creditors practices:
(a) There is abundant evidence of the use of
abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt
collectors. Abusive debt collection practices contribute to the number of
personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs, and to
invasions of individual privacy.
That being
said, you're probably wondering what the creditors are allowed to do, and if
they are breaking the FDCPA when attempting to collect from you. So, here is
the list of things they can and cannot do in a nutshell:
-
A creditor
may contact friends, family or employer to find your whereabouts. He cannot
say that you owe any debts, nor imply that he is a debt collection agency in
any way. If the consumer is represented by an attorney, he then cannot
contact anyone but that attorney.
-
A Creditor
may only call within the hours of 8 am and 9pm YOUR TIME.
-
A Creditor
cannot call your work if you've notified them that you cannot receive calls
at work.
-
You can
request in writing that the creditor no longer contact you. once you've done
this, they can contact you for two reasons: To let you know they've given up
on collecting or for notifications of special actions, judgments or other
"remedies."
-
A creditor
may not "harass, oppress, or abuse" you in regards to collecting a debt.
This includes threats of physical harm, reputation, foul language or simply
to just annoy until you pay.
-
Your
Creditor may not publish you as a person who doesn't pay their debt in any
way, shape or form.
-
A creditor
may not misrepresent themselves as a government agent, state agent, credit
bureau agent, attorney or any other person with "real" collection power.
They cannot imprison or arrest you for not paying your debt. Only the
Government can do that.
-
A creditor
can only charge interest and fees allowed by law. They also cannot charge
you for communication expenses with a misrepresented purpose.
-
A creditor
may take judicial action, and if the courts see fit, garnish wages or
personal property. This is done only through the court systems, so make sure
that all documents you receive are official and not a creditor "trick."
For more
detailed information and confusing wording of the above items, here is the
full FDCPA on the FTC's website.
If the creditor
breaks these, you can sue for damages! Here's what the FTC says you're
entitled to one of:
-
Actual
Damages that you can prove in a court of law. They may consist of emotional,
monetary (loss of job due to calls at work, or boss finding out you don't
pay your bills due to a creditor call), or physical (if you get physically attacked by
a creditor, immediately call 911 and file a police report).
-
Class
Action: For those who aren't familiar with this term, it means "Me, and all
the other people you've broken the law on trying to collect debts, are
coming after you!" An example of a class action suit is in the movie "Erin
Brockovich" where a group of people got together and sued and each received
a settlement according to their distress. The maximum per person is not to
exceed $500,000 or 1 percent of the net worth of the person/company plus
attorney costs if the court sees fit.
Whew. So, in
summary, if you are getting harassed by creditors and they are breaking the
above mentioned regulations we suggest you talk to an attorney or a Debt
Consolidation/Negotiation Specialist.
If
you would like to see how a settlement company can help represent you in these
regards, click here:
LifeLine Debt Solutions.
This Article -
"Getting Harassed by
Creditors?" is
courtesy of LifeLine Debt Solutions
