Are Creditors Harassing You? Here is how you can make them stop!
You are enjoying a quiet dinner at home with your family. The phone rings. You pause for just a moment. It rings a second time and you go to the phone to check the caller ID. It’s a long distance number you don’t recognize and you know it’s another one of those annoying creditors.
Have you ever wished you could just stop all the harassing calls? They embarrass you by calling you at work. They threaten you and scare your children. Have you wondered what your rights are?
There are a number of things you can do to stop creditor harassment. As soon as you receive the first harassing call, send the creditor a “Do Not Call” letter tell them how to contact you about the incurred debt. Send the letter via certified mail so have documentation that the letter was received by the intended party.
The best way to make creditors stop harassing you is to prevent the situation from coming to that in the first place. As soon as you know you will be unable to pay a bill on time, call the company to whom you owe the debt and try to work out a payment plan. This shows good faith on your part and makes it less likely that they will harass you.
Keep a record of each and every time a creditor tries to reach you by phone. Log the date and time, the debt they are calling about, the caller’s name and the creditor they are calling on behalf of. If it is not against the law (and this varies by state), record the call; or at least tell the caller that the call is being recorded. This may make them think twice about calling you again
There are some things a creditor simply cannot do without being in violation of federal law. Creditors cannot call before 8 am or after 9 pm. They cannot harass you at work. They can only call you one time after you send a “do not call” letter to inform you that they will no longer call you.
Creditors also may not threaten or harass your children, threaten to take action which is beyond the few actions which are legally available to them (more on this in a minute), or talk to anybody not involved with the debt about the matter. They cannot put you in prison (or threaten to) and cannot confiscate property or garnish wages, unless said property was put up as collateral for a loan.
What creditors CAN do are these three things: They can refuse your business in the future, they can sue you for what you owe (though this is unlikely as will almost certainly cost more than you owe to sue you) or they can report your non-payment to a credit reporting bureau
You don’t have to be a victim of creditor harassment. You, as a citizen and as a human being, have rights. If you feel that you are being unjustly harassed or verbally bullied by a creditor, there are actions you can take to stop the embarrassment, mental stress and scare tactics of creditor harassment. You deserve respect as a human being and shouldn’t be treated like a criminal just because you are a little behind in a bill that you fully intend to pay.
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