Once in a while the average man or woman has had to handle a collector of some kind calling to ask if the person intends to pay for the overdue bill.
You are met with the regular phrase "First off I must notify you that your call can be recorded and that this call is for the purpose of collecting a debt and any info provided can be used for that motive".
This practically makes you feel you're having your Miranda Rights being recited to you.
Often times just looking at the tell tale "Unavailable" show up on the caller id screed can send shivers up an individual's spine.
Imagine having an array of collection agencies phoning you day and night.
These collectors could become abusive and rude on the phone, threatening all sorts of outrageous things only to scare you into paying whatever you owe back.
On occasion they bother you like that bad burrito you ate at midnight, dialing at all hours of the day and evening oftentimes ten or more times daily.
Calling your place of employment hunting you down like a blood hound.
I've heard horror stories of collectors calling neighbors, friends, and family strong arming them into giving your personal information.
Sometimes indicating to them that you're in a lot of legal trouble and if they don't speak to you promptly you may be thrown in jail or worse.
Several collection companies conceal themselves under the disguise of a legal name or lawyer letter head hoping that the threat of a law suit will bring you to the knees.
So the question comes up, why? Most of the time these collection companies are working on some kind of incentive driven program or commission determined by how much debt they can get back for their clients, the banking institutions.
Now I am not proclaiming that each and every collection company stoops to this degree of harassment but I will say that we have far less reputable companies to be found than you can find Mafia like ones.
These below the belt businesses victimize people's sparse perception of the debt laws and what is and is not legal.
They already know there are a lot of people who have very limited experience with law but have heard testimonies true or not of individuals being raked over the coals because of bad debt.
They monopolize on this and feed those half truths to sow the seed of fearfulness and stress in the men and women they mistreat on the telephone.
How many times have you heard of a collector calling and literally shouting and screaming at some naive individual in an effort to brow beat them into repaying a debt that may be as many as three years old? Or, they use obscene expressions to a one that may not even understand that they still owed a debt.
Cases along the lines of these have popped up countless times and carry on growing as our economic climate becomes worse and worse.
It is for these very reasons that lots of individuals choose to not handle a growing debt issue.
The dread of having to handle an angry collection company simply puts a negative taste in their mouth when exploring the various debt relief options around.
Since the majority of the options accessible to people are hardship programs, many people choose to simply continue to pay their monthly minimums instead of face the wrath of the phone tyrants.
What many consumers might not know is that there's actually a federal law set up to shield their rights against unfair collection practices.
This law is termed the Fair Debt and Collection Practices Act also known as the FDCPA.
This document outlines everything that a collection company can and cannot do when it comes to attempting to collect on a debt.
Violations to the act can result in penalties and offers the individual the chance to sue the collector for money damages.
However, the problem at hand is that most of us are not knowledgeable enough with the law to recognise when a company has in fact violated our legal rights.
Some of us have attempted to become the warriors and demanded that these creditors stop calling spewing out that we have laws available ant that they are prohibited to violate them.
However these collectors know that you're only scratching the surface and generally speaking really don't truly fully understand the laws.
There are times they could possibly state that they are not violating any laws also, since you owe this debt that provides them the right to phone and do what's needed to obtain full payment for this debt.
They're taking the gamble that you like the majority of us pay attention to authority and will take the things they say as the truth simply because they should know, they are naturally in the business of collecting debt and no company would voluntarily break the law.
The FDCPA is an extremely long document separated into various sections but in a nut shell listed below are common violations collection agencies make; 1.
Calling the customer's job once the debt collector understands the consumer's employer prohibits calls or the consumer requests the debt collector not to call at your workplace anymore.
2.
Threatening that nonpayment will result in imprisonment, garnishment, and/or liens if the debt collector is not an attorney 3.
Calling the consumer's neighbors, friends, members of the family, etc.
if the debt collector previously understands how to contact the customer.
(They are only allowed to make contact with third parties to discover the consumer's contact information.
) 4.
Disclosing to friends, members of the family, etc.
that the consumer owes a debt.
5.
Harassing, oppressing, insulting or verbally abusing the consumer (this is VERY broad.
) 6.
Threatening to sue when the debt collector is not an attorney/law firm.
Here is where using a debt settlement law firm to work with you with coping with your debt could be of great benefit to you.
A national law firm can assist you ensure any collection agencies aren't violating federal law when collecting debts.
If while you are in their program any collection agencies begin to harass you, then you can sue them and the law firm would handle the situation at no cost and likely be able to recover money for you.
This is only one of many reasons why you will need to make certain that you are considering a debt relief program that is legal and you are going about this in the right way.
Only a law firm can give you legal advice, and only a law firm can legally represent you to your collectors and their lawyers for the purposes of negotiating your credit card debt.
If you're behind on your payments and you're being harassed by collection agencies, then I urge you to speak with an attorney who centers on debt resolutions and collection harassment, to go over with you all of your options.