Here's what to do if a bill collector harasses you .
In order to deal with debt collectors, it pays to learn what they can and cannot do. These days debt collectors are getting bolder and bolder. Having worked at a collection agency through three years of law school, I learned firsthand what methods are okay, and which are not.
What Debt Collectors Can't Do
Debt collectors from collection agencies cannot do any of the following:
- Call you repeatedly or contact you at an unreasonable time (the law presumes that before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. is unreasonable).
- Place telephone calls to you without identifying themselves as bill collectors.
- Contact you at work if your employer prohibits it.
- Use obscene or profane language.
- Use or threaten to use violence.
- Claim you owe more than you do.
- Claim to be attorneys if they're not.
- Claim that you'll be imprisoned or your property will be seized.
- Send you a paper that resembles a legal document.
- Add unauthorized interest, fees, or charges.
- Contact third parties, other than your attorney, a credit reporting bureau, or the original creditor, except for the limited purpose of finding information about your whereabouts. Unless you have asked collectors in writing to stop contacting you, they can also contact your spouse, your parents (if you are a minor), and your co-debtors.
What to Do If Debt Collectors Break the Law
Here's what you can do if debt collectors engage in illegal, or even “just” harassing activity:
1. Tell Them to Stop
You have the right to tell a collection agency employee to stop contacting you. Simply send a letter stating that you want the collection agency to cease all communications with you. All agency employees are then prohibited from contacting you, except to tell you that collection efforts have ended or that the collection agency or original creditor intends to sue you or take advantage of some other legal remedy.
2. Document Illegal Behavior
If a debt collector breaks the law, document the violation as soon as it happens. Start a log and write down what happened, when it happened, and who witnessed it. Then, try to have another person present (or on the phone) during all future communications with the collector. Ask for the collector’s name. These are usually fictitious, but the information still is helpful, because collectors are required to register their fictitious names with the California Department of Consumer Affairs.
3. File a Complaint
You can file a complaint with the FTC, the federal agency that oversees collection agencies. Contact the Federal Trade Commission at 6th and Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580, www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.htm. In your complaint:
- include the collection agency's name and address, the name of the collector, the dates and times of the conversations, and the names of any witnesses, and
- Attach copies of all offending materials you received and a copy of any tape you made.
Send the complaint to state agencies. Send a copy of your complaint to the state agency that regulates collection agencies for the state where the agency is located. To find the agency, call information in that state's capital city or check the state's website. California residents can find more information at: http://www.dca.ca.gov.
Send the complaint to the creditor and collection agency. Finally, send a copy of the FTC complaint to the original creditor and the collection agency. The original creditor may be concerned about its own liability and offer to cancel the debt.
Once your complaint is filed, don't expect immediate results.
4.Get a lawyer and sue the debt collector
If you've been subject to repeated abusive behavior and can document it, consider suing the collection agency. But if the illegal behavior was merely annoying, don't bother..
To sue the debt collector, you can represent yourself in small claims court or hire a lawyer and go to regular court. (The other side may have to pay your attorneys' fees and court costs if you win.)
Money damages. If you win in court, you are entitled to recover:
- the amount of any actual financial losses you suffered -- for example, your therapy fees, if you suffered extreme anxiety as a result of the collector's actions, or the amount you paid to switch to an unlisted number to avoid harassment, and
- an additional amount (unrelated to actual losses) up to $1,000 for any violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
