Debt Collection and Your Rights

Continual harassment from debt collection agencies may seem an inescapable result of unpaid bills and credit card debt, but the American government guarantees certain rights to debtors. The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ensures that consumers are not unnecessarily or unfairly targeted by collection agencies, and borrowers should be aware of all of their rights regarding attempts from outside sources to collect consumer debts.

Essentially, the legislation’s meant to regulate the manner in which debt collection agencies contact individual consumers. The debt collector must immediately identify himself as such whenever he calls (and must bear all changes for phone calls) and not wrongly pose as a lawyer, police officer or government official. There are limits as well – varying state to state but ordinarily between eight in the morning and nine in the evening – as to the hours when calls are legally allowed and the amount of calls that can be made. Collection agencies are not allowed to call workplaces if such calls aren’t typically permitted by the employer. They can’t threaten, insult, blackmail or otherwise harass. Harsh language is expressly forbidden.

Even with these restrictions, the most important one’s also the simplest – at any time, you may tell debt collectors to never call again and, by law, they have to leave you alone. Collection agencies can still mail notices about delinquent accounts, of course, but all posted items must arrive in unmarked envelopes and bear no resemblance to official government correspondence. If you’ve enlisted an attorney, they’re not allowed to contact you at all.

It’s best to maintain a complete history of all calls made and written materials sent by the collection agency, and, if you believe the law’s been broken, contact the Federal Trade Commission with details of the specific violation. Also, you should talk to the attorney general of your state and the creditor that originally held the debt. Should the collectors’ misdeeds by sufficiently grievous, it’s even possible to take the collection agencies themselves to court.

A host of government statutes have been erected to protect the rights of ordinary citizens against unlawful practices. The Fair Credit Reporting Act, for instance, forces credit bureaus to verify questioned data, send reports to borrowers who request explanation after they’ve been denied credit or employment, record all recent inquiries, and include written statements within the reports from the debtors.

In addition, many states have enacted their own safeguards to prevent unfair collection practices. It’s best for each individual to investigate their governmentally-mandated rights for each specific situation and verify that they’re not being taken advantage of. Debt collectors may be an irritating consequence of escalating financial burdens, but it’s every borrower’s personal responsibility to make sure the collection agency obeys the laws.