Stop The Phone Calls

You’re doin’ your best to clean up your credit… you’re workin’ 2 jobs and takin’ PBJ’s to lunch everyday.  You know you’re behind – but you’re WORKIN’ ON IT!  All you really want is for the bill collectors to stop callin’ and just let you focus on getting this behind you.

Well, there are a couple of things you can do.  Under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act you have every right to tell a collector to stop calling you, and to communicate with you only in writing.

Many debt collectors would rather talk to you on the phone, that way there’s no record of what they are saying to you. But you have every right to tell them to stop calling you – and if they persist they are breaking the law, and in violation of the FDCPA.

When you communicate in writing then you have evidence that you requested that they stop calling, and that evidence could lead to a lawsuit in your favor. Send them a letter that states they must CEASE AND DESIST from contacting you further.  Remember, this only applies to debt collectors.  So go ahead, take their phone call – get their address, tell them it’s so you can make a payment (whatever) and then write to them.

Often times an account is turned over to a debt collector because your loan has been charged off or is in default.  The original Creditor has every right to contact you regarding any payments.

Once you send the CEASE AND DESIST letter, the bill collector can contact you one more time. This contact is to let you know that they are (in essence) giving up and further efforts to collect the debt are terminated, that they MIGHT take further actions as a debt collector, or that they are definitely going to take certain actions against you.

We have been doing this a long time – so I will tell you that what is LIKELY to happen, once you tell them to stop, is that they are going to SELL that Collection to another company, and the cycle will start over.

According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act – any communications by the debt collector after this single instance allows you to seek punitive action against them.

The best case scenario – assuming you are working to pay your debt off, is to have the account transferred back to the original creditor. If that’s done, then you can usually figure out a way to pay them a reduced balance on what you owe them – or at the very least, get the them to put you on a payment plan that you can afford.

You might also want to speak with a Non-Profit Consumer Counseling Service.  They can often times work within your budget and make the phone calls STOP.

If you want help on getting your credit scores higher so you can purchase a home, and you have credit scores CLOSE to 600, please call Steve Thorne, 919-649-5058.  We work with folks every day who thought they’d never be able to buy a house – but eventually did.  We have mortgage loans available for those with Credit Scores between 580 and 619.