Debt Collectors And Your Rights

By Pay Off Debt Advisor | Apr 3, 2009

Debt Collectors have the right to pursue debts that you legitimately owe, but they do not have the right to be abusive.

Consumers have a number of rights that are very clearly spelled out under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Debt Collectors are not allowed to contact other people and tell them that you owe a debt. They also are not allowed to send mail that states on the outside of the letter that they are debt collectors, and they are not allowed to communicate with you by postcard.

If the debt collector is informed that you are represented by an attorney, and has that attorney’s contact information, they must contact the attorney, not you (unless the attorney fails to respond to their contact within a reasonable amount of time).

Debt collectors are not allowed to use profane or abusive language when contacting a debtor.

Debt collectors may not publicly publish lists of people who owe debts.

Debt collectors may not claim to be attorneys if they are not in fact attorneys.

Debt collectors generally are not supposed to call after 8 p.m. in the evening and before 9 a.m. in the evening in the customer’s time zone.

The debt collector is not supposed to contact the debtor at their place of employment if the debt collector knows that the employer prohibits the employee from receiving such communication.

Debt Collectors are not allowed to conceal their identity when contacting a debtor, or to use deceptive communication to trick the debtor into revealing information.

Violation of any of the above principles may be a violation of federal law; you can contact an attorney if you feel that you are being illegally harassed by a debt collector.

Remember, though, the debt collector DOES have a legal right to attempt to collect if you owe money! The best thing to do is to attempt to work out a payment plan with the debt collector – once you have verified that you really do owe the debt and that they are a legitimate collection agency.

Be sure to get any agreement that you reach with the debt collection agency in writing, though.