The thoughts of debt collection strikes fear in the heart of millions who can no longer pay their credit card debt but it does "not" need to be that way. Absolutely anyone can turn the table on collectors, beat them at their own game, collect money from them and have their debts marked "paid as agreed" with credit reporting agencies.
The collectors call immediately strikes fear and intimidation into the mind of the person being called because people believe they have a "moral obligation" to pay and now they must deal with a live person over the phone. Change your thinking about collection calls immediately!
Debt collectors are so accustomed to being in control of the situation, they frequently go beyond what is allowed by law. Specifically, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or FDCPA sets out in detail what can and cannot be done over the phone and allows large fines for misconduct.
You can say "communicate with me in writing only" and hang up the phone but that is not any fun, will not allow you to collect money or reduce your alleged debt to zero. To do these things you will need to know a few basics about collection calls.
Collectors can never prove that you owe them money unless "you admit" that you owe which establishes a contract between you and the collector. They tell you "this call is recorded" and hope to your record your "confession" to coerce money from you.
To beat them, there are few things you will need to do. First go by Wal-Mart or Radio Shack and purchase a digital recorder that will record an hour or so of conversation. Call a friend to test your digital recorder to make sure you can hear both sides of the conversation on the recorder.
Never give a collector any information whatsoever! They will probably know you by name when you answer so having your name on the recording is fine but be sure that is the only thing they ever know. Absolutely do not answer any of their questions or give any information whatsoever.
Now the fun begins. It will be your job to frustrate the caller and have him get upset instead of you. You can search YouTube for examples of answering debt collector calls and get the idea of how to do it but remember not to give any information.
When the collector begins to get upset because of your "no answer" tactics you are doing great so just remain calm and let him get all bent out of shape and hopefully use profanity, yell and scream, threaten to sue you, ruin your credit and use more "not allowed" phone tactics.
Once you have gathered sufficient recordings is time for you to call the collection agency and make "your" demands. Ask for a supervisor and tell them that you intend to file a federal lawsuit for their misconduct Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Be dead serious.
You can play some of your best recordings to show them that you have absolute proof of their misconduct. Once you have convinced them that you are going to file the federal suit, you can offer them a way out of the lawsuit by having them mark your debt "paid as agreed" and have them send it to you in writing.
Dealing with debt collection can be fun and extremely rewarding when you use knowledge to your advantage and do not ever forget that most collectors are not as smart as a fifth grader!
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