For millions of Americans, debt is an ever looming black cloud in their day to day lives. It can creep up on you slowly, or in some cases can happen all at once. If you become unemployed or have a medical emergency, one wrong move can send you over the edge and into the financial abyss. It’s frustrating to have to deal with so much debt and even more so when you start receiving those phone calls from collectors daily and even hourly things can get even scarier. How do you deal with phone calls from collectors, what rights do they have? What rights do you have? Luckily for us, the government has been able to step and help us out by passing the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Read on to find out how this affects us the consumer.
There are lots of companies out there that have people who call nonstop 7 days a week to those who owe their client’s money. Unfortunately, some of them are not as ethical as you would hope they are. Aggressive tactics seem to be the norm for these companies and they will use any and every trick in the book to get someone to pay up. At this particular juncture, the government has stepped in with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which protects consumers from these type of antics. You need to educate yourself on what is right and acceptable when it comes to collection calls, otherwise you stand to be harassed and bullied by agents. Even if you feel ashamed of what you owe, you still have rights and you should enforce them.
The FDCPA protects consumer’s rights and dictates what the collection agencies can and cannot do. An agent may not use profanity or use threats, they can only call between specified hours of the day, they are not allowed to call family, friends, neighbors or coworkers to locate your whereabouts, they cannot call you at your place of employment. Also, you should be aware that you can issue them a written notification to request that they do not call you any further regarding your outstanding debt. You can find all these rules and regulations regarding the act on government websites. Make sure you familiarize yourself with your rights before speaking with an aggressive agent.
Once you make the decision to take control of your debt, there are good options available for you to be able to get on the right track. A lot of people choose to go through a company that specializes in debt relief help either by counseling, repayment and negotiation. The good news for you is that once you begin the process with a professional, you can expect calls from collection agencies to stop. The third party is now dealing directly with your creditors, both saving you the hassle of dealing with calls, and the reassurance you are paying down your debt and heading towards financial freedom.
