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How Should You Deal With Collection Agencies?

If you’re like 99.9% of the people in this country, you absolutely hate talking to a collector if they call.  No matter what caused you to get in that position in the first place, most of them seem like they’re just out to harrass you and ruin your day.  They act like they don’t care about your current situation, they’re just trying to collect the money that you owe to them.

This is probably what you do after taking a few calls…
a) Stop answering the phone when they call
b) Hang up if you answer and realize it’s them
c) Get rude and start mouthing off when you realize they won’t go away

Do you really want to be afraid to answer your phone when it rings?  Do you like explaining when you don’t answer it “It’s just a collector”?  They are persistent, but there are things that you can do to protect your sanity.  Reading this post is the first step.

If you have a collector contacting you, the FIRST thing you should do is get their name (Collection Company) and address.  If you can’t get their address, then the name should be enough to lookup their address online.  If you can’t find their address anywhere, then you can generally find it on your credit report, so it’s worth the little money that may be required to purchase it.  You don’t need your score or anything, just the report.

After you have their name and address (if you can get it), the next step is to let them know that you would like them to stop calling you and continue ALL correspondence through the mail.  You can also let them know, if you’d like, that you are preparing a limited Cease and Desist letter and you would like them to not contact you until they have received it.  Technically, this should be enough to get them to stop calling.  Some companies don’t follow the FDCPA as well as they should (which means they break the law, but that’s another story), and if you’re dealing with one of those people, then you may as well just hang up there.  Don’t let them break you down over the phone, don’t tell them that you’re going to pay anything, don’t even acknowledge that the debt is yours yet.  You don’t want to give them ANY information that could be used against you at a later date.

Now, you’ve told them to stop calling, and there’s a chance that you may have a little peace and quiet for the next couple days.  AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, you need to get that limited cease and desist letter out to them.  Check around online, and I’ll see if I can find a good copy to post here for you, but basically you’re looking for a letter saying that they are not allowed to contact you or anybody that you might know by phone.  All future correspondence needs to be through the mail.  Once you do this, you shouldn’t have to be afraid to answer your phone any more.  This is where some people like to play a little game, which is trying to see how many violations the Collection Agency can do.  If they call you after they have received the cease and desist letter, then that’s a violation, with a fine of up to $1,000 for each one.  Keep track of all those calls, and when it comes time to play hard-ball, you’ll be ready with a few aces up your sleeve.

Along with your Cease and Desist letter, you’re also going to want to send a Debt Validation letter.  What this will do is force the Collection Agency to prove that they are allowed to collect on the debt.  Many times, you’re being called and hounded by somebody who has purchased the debt from another source, who has already written it off.  In that case, you don’t legally owe them anything unless they can prove that you do.  99.9% of the time, you’ll find that they don’t have any paperwork to back it up, and they’re just hoping for an easy payday.  In those instances, paying the debt will do nothing to help you, and can even cause your credit score to decrease.  If they can’t verify the debt, then you don’t owe them a dime.

The Collection Agencies count on people not knowing their rights, which is why they get away with the things they do.  Now you can be one of the informed, and you can fight to protect those rights.

Recap: Request all communication be done through the mail.  Send a limited Cease and Desist letter, along with a Debt Validation.  This will require them to only contact you through the mail, and to also prove that you actually owe them something.  You are not legally obligated to pay a debt that you don’t owe.  Once you do that, then sit back and relax because there’s a great chance that they will never call you again.  If they do send the validation of the debt, then yes, you owe the money and you can go about trying to pay it (if you can or want to).  If the company continues calling after receiving the letters, then that is a violation of your rights, and you want to record every single violation.  It could be worth a lot of money if you decide that you need to take them to court to get them to leave you alone.

Finally, one last thing that I want to say…
NEVER give out the following information to a collector that calls:

I’m sure I’ll come up with more, but that’s all I have for right now.  If you can think of anything else to say, please leave a comment.

Thanks!

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