Sure, the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (FDCPA) defines the borders within which all debt collectors should stay when dealing with delinquent debtors. But are they really that law-abiding? This article lists the most widely used threats that debt collectors may use when talking to you over the phone or in the process of face-to-face encounter. Are the things that they are threatening you with legal? Read this article to the end to understand it - and choose a perfect resistance tactics for yourself.
The statistics concerning the amount of people's complaints concerning the work of debt collection agencies is oppressive - in 2004 there has been as much as 58,000 debtors addressing the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) claiming that they were harassed by the debt collectors - and the number only keeps on growing! Complains about illegal methods of debt collection hold one of the first places in the FTC's rating - currently, 17% of all complaints concern this problem.
The following list states the most common threats used by abusive debt collection agents - and states how true they can be in reality.
1) The threat to take away the debtor's house if he/she doesn't make the payment immediately. This threat has nothing to do with reality unless your loan is actually secured with your home (mortgage or home equity loan). Only in this case will a debt collector be able to seize the real estate in your property.
2) The threat to arrest the debtor if he/she doesn't start paying off immediately. First thing you should know about if your creditor ever tries this intimidation technique on you is that a delinquent debt is a civil matter, while only a person committing some criminal act can be arrested.
3) The threat to keep on with regular collection calls in spite of the cease communication note sent to the creditor. Federal law states that a cease communication note received by the creditor obliges him/her to stop all efforts to contact the debtor. If your creditor fails to follow this regulation, remind him that this activity may be considered a breach of the law.
4) The threat of assault. Yes, you might be surprised but some debt collection agents use that as well. FTC receives an average of about 300 complaints caused by the threat of violence to a debtor. There's no law that would allow the debt collectors to resort to such means, so if you ever happen to be the target of it, it will be you who is recommended to bring a lawsuit against your creditors, not vice versa.
Threatening the debtor is not the only illegal method that and abusive debt collection agency may be using. It's important that you realize which of your creditors' activities can be considered illegal and use this knowledge to protect yourself. Remember that your debt collection agent is breaking the FDCPA if he/she is:
- sharing the information about your debt with third parties - except your neighbors, relatives, and employers who may be contacted in order to obtain any required information about you. However, you should know that contacting these people is only allowed if the creditor doesn't mention anything about your debt at all;
- calling you at work despite the fact that you notify him/her you are not allowed to receive personal phone calls during your working hours. However, there are very few debt collectors that really do follow this rule - most of them keep on calling you no matter what. Consider resorting to legal protection means if that happens to you;
- using rude or profane language or raising his/her voice at you during collection calls;
- calling you too frequently, thus making your life really stressful;
- ignoring written disputes;
- providing public access to debtor information.
What can you do to fight off the illegal debt collection attacks? The very first thing that you should do as soon as debt collection calls begin is surfing through the detailed description of consumer rights under FDCPA. Do it even if the collection calls are not bugging you really bad. You can easily get this information from the official website of the Federal Trade Commission.
If any of your debt collection agent's activities turns out to be illegal, file a formal complaint with your state's Attorney General and the FTC. In case these authorities receive enough complaints about the activity of a given creditor or debt collection agency, heavy fines may be imposed as the penalty for their illegal practices. This will definitely make them think twice before doing that again. Plus, you shouldn't forget that you have the legal power to file a counterclaim against a harassing or exceptionally abusive debt collection agent.
On the other hand, you should remember that everything listed above applies to third-party debt collection agencies and attorneys that your creditors may resort to only. Your creditor's own debt collection department representatives are subject to only a few of the FDCPA regulations listed. Nevertheless, you shouldn't forget about other consumer protection laws that might help you to resist the abusive activity of debt collectors and even the creditors themselves. Thus, you shouldn't hesitate to file a complaint with your state's Attorney General and FTC if you believe that your creditor is harassing you. In this case, an abusive creditor may be considered guilty under state law or some other FTC act.
Fighting off illegal debt collection attempts may be a really hard thing to do - but you should remember that this may get your out of your debt sooner and easier than you think, so... Educate yourself!
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