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Dealing With Debt Collectors
Mar 29th - 12:50pm

Most people try to stay out of financial trouble and succeed in keeping the bills paid on time. Others are not as skillful at managing their debt load and fall behind in paying bills. Then the debt collector may come calling.

WTOP's Call For Action Director Shirley Rooker has been looking into the specific laws that protect consumers from unscrupulous and overly aggressive debt collection agencies.

What rights do people have?

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act sets up specific guidelines for debt collectors. For one thing, calls are permitted only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. unless you agree otherwise. And calls to your office are not permitted if you have indicated your employer disapproves.

Beyond that, there are many more protections. For example, you can tell the debt collector that you don't want to be contacted. Just write a letter to that effect. Then, the agency can only contact you to notify you of specific action to collect, such as taking you to court. That letter doesn't make the debt go away, but it does make the collector stop contacting you.

In most cases, the collector cannot tell others, such as your neighbors that you owe money but can ask where you live, your phone number, etc.

What about efforts to collect on a debt that is years old?

There is a statue of limitations for collection of a debt. The length of time is determined by state laws. Generally, it is from 3 to 6 years.

One Call for Action client had been contacted by a collection agency for a debt that was seven years old. Unfortunately, she didn't realize the debt had expired and she did not have to pay. The company threatened her with all kinds of dire events and she sent them a payment. Once she sent a check, the clock started all over again and she became liable for the debt. She kept asking for a statement on the amount she owed. The company refused to provide her written documentation and instead became verbally abusive. She contacted CFA to see if we could get the info she wanted. We did a lot more than that.

She did not realize that the collection agency was required to provide her with a statement that showed the amount of the debt, any add on charges and proof that the debt was legitimate. Once CFA told her to ask for documentation, the harassing calls stopped. That was two years ago. The agency dropped the collection efforts because it lacked proof she owed the debt. In tracing the history of the debt it was learned that it had been sold at least three times. This is a good example of a debt collection agency that abused a consumer and it backfired. No proof, no payment. And she only wanted a statement of the amount she owed.

In another twist on collecting old debts, a consumer contacted CFA after receiving a letter from a collection agency, claiming she had an old debt. CFA learned from talking with the Federal Trade Commission, that it is important to write the collection agency, telling them the debt is not yours. Otherwise, the company can assume it is your debt and may take action against you.

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Good info to know.

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cocojambo

very useful article thanks