Learn How To Make Creditors Stop Harassing You!

Learn how to make creditors stop harassing you!

Frank V

Say you are at home with your family, about to sit down to dinner. The phone rings, and you already know who it is on the other end. You don't want to answer it, and the caller ID confirms your suspicions. It's a number you don't recognize, but you know it's a collection agency again. How annoying.

Don't you wish the harassment would stop? It's embarrassing and stressful. Isn't there anything you can do to make it stop? What are your rights here? Can they really call you at work?

There are actually several things you can do to stop creditors from harassing you. You should act quickly - first time you receive a harassing phone call from a creditor, send the creditor a letter by certified mail to make sure they receive it. This is known as a "Do Not Call" letter. In it, you will ask that they no longer harass you with phone calls and tell them how to properly contact you

One way to keep these harassing calls from happening is to call the company to whom you owe as soon as you know you will be unable to pay on time. You can attempt to work out a payment schedule with them, which will show them that you are acting in good faith and intend to pay what you owe.

You should keep a log of calls from creditors if you are having this problem. Write down when they called, what debt they called about, who they are collecting the debt for and the name of the person calling you. Unless it is illegal in your state, record these calls and tell the callers that they are being recorded; this may even prevent more calls!

You do have some protection under federal law. A creditor can't call you after 9 pm or before 8 am. After you send them a "Do Not Call" letter, they may only call you once more after that to acknowledge that they will cease calling you. Most importantly, they cannot, by law, call you at work, period

They cannot threaten you with action they cannot carry out nor can they threaten your children. They cannot use offensive language. Creditors cannot talk to an uninvolved party about your debt such as your neighbor, employer or relative. They can, however, talk to your spouse, attorney or a co-signer. Creditors cannot seize or garnish your wages without a court order. They cannot send you to jail nor threaten to do so.

By law, there are three things a creditor can do. They can sue you to recoup what you owe, they can refuse to do business with you any longer and they can report your debt to a credit bureau. It is exceedingly unlikely that they will sue you, as this will generally cost more than what you owe. The one case in which they may seize assets is in the case that you have something as collateral on a loan.

You don't have to let them harass and bully you. You have rights by federal and state laws. You can stop the harassment if you are being harassed by a creditor. Don't let them treat you like a criminal or as someone unworthy of respect just because of a debt which you want to pay.