The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law that restricts collection agencies' behavior when attempting to collect money from individuals. The law does not apply to collecting from businesses, and it does not apply to collections performed by the entity that issued the bill you have not paid.
The law restricts the ways that collection agencies can contact you, including the times of day and the number of times they can contact you, what they can say, and how you can get them to stop contacting you.
-Some provisions of the FDCPA include:
Debt collectors can only call between 8:00 am and 9:00 pm (unless you have agreed to other times).
It is illegal for debt collectors to harass, physically threaten you, or threaten you with arrest. They legally can't threaten to sue you unless they plan to litigate.
If you tell a debt collector, either verbally or in writing, not to call you at work, he or she must stop calling you at work.
A request to stop contacting you at your home must be in writing.
Debt collectors can only call friends, relatives, or neighbors once and cannot provide any information about your debt.
Suppose the collection agency has a legitimate reason to believe you owe the money. In that case, they can contact you repeatedly, report to credit bureaus, refer your file to an attorney, or initiate litigation. If they do go to court because you ignore them, your credit score will be damaged, the amount you end up paying could be a lot more than what you could have negotiated, and they can pull the money out of your bank account at the worst time, making it so you can't pay other bills such as rent.
If you are dealing with a reputable collection agency, we recommend working with them to solve the problem—that's what they've been hired to do.
If the collection agency contacting you blatantly violates the FDCPA, then there is a good chance it's a scam and not a legitimate debt.
Although you may be embarrassed or surprised by the call or letter, the worst thing you can do is ignore it. If you ignore it, you lose control of what happens and could quickly end up in a far worse situation than if you work to solve the problem.
If you receive a phone call (or return a phone message), get the following information for your notes:
Who is contacting you? Name of the collection agency, their address, phone number, email address, case or file #, and the person assigned to your case.
Full description of the debt: Name of the company that claims you owe them, the amount owed, the date the debt was allegedly incurred, the product or service allegedly provided, and any interest or fees added to the original amount owed.
A paper copy of the information: Once you have this information, ask them to mail (or email) you a complete description of the alleged debt (often called a "validation letter" or "debt verification letter") and not to contact you by phone until you have received it.
The main point is that you want to get all the information about the debt in writing before you decide how you might want to resolve the matter. And you need a paper trail, whether in hard copy or email so that you can follow up as necessary and have something in writing at the end saying the matter has been resolved. If you don't have this, someone else could come after you for the same debt, and you might not be able to prove you have already paid it.
During the debt collection process, we may make dozens of phone calls. With caller ID, computerized telephone attendants, voicemail systems, and live call screeners, getting a debtor on the phone is often highly challenging. However, we are persistent and relentless. There are situations where we will call several times a day, from early morning to mid-evening, trying to get a live person. We do not use computerized predictive dialers. We do not leave a message every time we call. Instead, the debt collector uses their experience, intuition, and the specific debt collection history on the account to decide when, how often, and where to call. We can call people on their cell phones and at their homes. We may have to research these phone numbers, which may entail calling relatives, neighbors, and neighboring businesses. We are discrete when talking to someone outside of the business, but at the same time, the debtor usually gets the message that we are in hot pursuit. This alone makes debts owed to Wolf & Aid Collection Agency clients moved to the top of the list for debtors.
Please bookmark this page to stay updated on the latest debt collection industry trends. If you have questions, Call (773) 336-8655.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Address: 3432 W Diversey Ave Floor 2,
Chicago, Illinois 60647
Phone: 773-336-8655