Stopping Contact from Debt Collectors

10/14/2016
debt collectors

Your creditors can be relentless.  As soon as you fall behind on the first monthly payment your phone begins to ring.  If the creditors do not have success collecting their debt they turn these accounts over to debt collectors.  Now you receive additional phone calls on top of letters in the mail.  How can you get these companies to leave you alone?

Defining Who is a Debt Collector

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was enacted into federal law to limit and govern the actions debt collectors take on behalf of the original creditor.  “The term “debt collector” means any person who uses various forms of communication for a business whose principal purpose is to collect or attempt to collect debts.  15 U.S.C. § 1692a  The most common forms of communication are telephone calls and letters in the mail.  Credit cards, medical bills, and car loans are some of the debts that fall under the FDCPA’s watchful eye.

When Can and Can’t Debt Collectors Contact You?

15 U.S.C. 1692c lays out the guidelines as to when and where the debt collection companies can contact you:

  1. Debt collectors can contact you within the hours of 8:00 am and 9:00 pm.  Any communications from a collection company outside of these house is a violation of federal law.
  2. These companies can contact you if you do not have an attorney representing you.  However, if they have knowledge that you have an attorney they can no longer contact you.
  3. They can contact you at your place of employment unless the collectors know that you cannot receive such phone calls at work.

Another way to stop creditors or debt collectors from contacting you is to file bankruptcy.  As soon as the bankruptcy case is filed the automatic stay goes into effect and all collection actions must cease .

No one enjoys answering phone calls at all hours of the day.  But the sooner you can let the debt collectors know you have an attorney or you cannot accept calls at work the quicker the calls will stop!  However, remember this does not mean the debt disappears.  The peace and quite will give you some breathing room to figure out what to do next.