When you’re behind on some bills (or all your bills!) and the debt collectors are hounding you, it’s understandable if you feel anxious, overwhelmed and powerless. After all, they are right; you do owe the money. However, that doesn’t mean you have to put up with the aggressive and often unscrupulous, harassing tactics many debt collectors employ to try to get their money.
First of all, you should make the debt collection company prove that they have been hired by the company you actually owe. There are plenty of scam debt collection companies out there. Don’t add insult to injury by doing business with a bogus collector. Additionally, there are some debts that have a statute of limitations. Get your information straight so you can protect yourself. Talk to a knowledgeable bankruptcy lawyer.
What Debt Collectors Can’t Do to Get Paid
– A debt collector can call you at work unless and until such time as you tell them to stop calling you at work. If you tell them to stop and they persist, that’s harassment.
– A debt collector is not allowed to contact people you know, your family, friends or co-workers about your debt. However, debt collectors are permitted to contact your employer in an effort to garnish your wages to collect a debt
– There is no such thing as debtor’s prison anymore. It’s 2014. Therefore, debt collectors are never allowed to threaten you with prison time. They also are prohibited from verbally abusing you or threatening violence while trying to collect the debt.
– If you feel you are being harassed by a debt collector, there are several things you can do. The first step is to call an experienced bankruptcy attorney because filing for bankruptcy puts an automatic stay in place. This means debt collectors can no longer contact you about the debt. Period.
Also, a good lawyer can file a lawsuit on your behalf against the creditor and debt collector if they have broken any of the harassment guidelines mentioned above.
Joel R. Spivack, Esq. has been helping people get free of debt in South Jersey for more than 20 years. Contact him today for a free evaluation of your situation.
