One of the most annoying things that people, with debts have to deal with are the collection agencies and collectors, who often times call constantly. Although it is their job to collect what people owe, they have to follow the rules set by the FDCPA for debt settlements. Back in the days, the best collectors were those who were the most ruthless callers using threats and harassments. Now, according to the FDCPA, collectors are not allowed to harass anyone anymore collection agency harassment.
The FDCPA have given the rules on how collection agencies and collectors can do debt settlements. They are only allowed to call within certain hours of the day and only three times per week. They cannot call anyone in your family or friends to discuss about your debt, and they cannot call you to discuss another person’s debt either. They should also discuss the debt settlement using respectful language. If the collection agency or collectors disobeys one of the rules set by the FDCPA, you have the right to complain against the collection agency, which means they will get into big trouble.
The first step that you can do to stop the collection agencies and collectors from calling you is to write them a letter requesting them to validate the debt you have. The process of validating a debt is not always easy, especially for third party collection agencies as this process requires the collection agency to have proof of any credit card debt or any paper trail of the debt that you left behind. The process requires them to get some private company records which the bank or the company, where you have debt, may not easily and immediately share or release. If they are not able to send you a validation report of the debt in thirty days, you can then tell them to stop calling you and remove the debt from your credit report.
You can tell the collection agency you do not want them calling you anymore. However, you must do this by writing them a letter. The law requires the collectors to honor your request or else they can be put out of business. The letter should also say that you will only agree to communicate with them through mail. If they still call after they have received the letter from you, then you can report them to the FDCPA or sue them. The letter that you will write is called a Cease and Desist Letter and should be sent via certified mail. You can write to a collection agency to stop calling even if they have already validated that you have indeed a debt that should be paid.
There is nothing wrong if you just want to ignore the calls, if you want to. There is no law that forbids anyone from hanging up on a call from a collection agency. In fact, the FCPA recommends that all transactions regarding debt settlement must be done in written form to have a record on what has happened and what is happening. However, there is also no law that says that debt settlement discussions cannot be done by phone.
