Protection Against Creditors & Creditor Harassement
Those of us who
have 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 whining.
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 bill consolidation expert or an 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.
After reading that
assesment by the federal government, you're probably wondering what 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 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 bill consolidation/negotiation
specialist. There are quite a few debt negotiation companies who handle creditor
calls through power of attorney. For more information about debt settlement,
read the "debt negotiation" section or call the number below.
If
you would like to see how a settlement company can help represent you in these
regards, call 1-800-646-2993.
