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Fact 003
How to deal with Dishonest Debt Collectors

•  There is no law stating you must make payments to a Collection Agency unless you previously agreed to this in writing with your credit grantor.

•  It is blatantly WRONG , and renders any Collector unscrupulous for simply “ACCEPTING” a job to collect, engage harassing and abusing tactics against you without verifying the sum owed, almost all the time without even proof of your acceptance of, or signature to such credit claim, ALL TO EARN A COMMISSION.

•  You CAN and should make payments to your Creditor who CANNOT refuse such payment by insisting you pay your account to a Collector together with the Collector's absurd charges.

•  There is a LIMIT on the % of interest you may pay.

•  Since your Creditor hired their Debt Collector, the onus is on them to pay their collector's fees, UNLESS you agreed otherwise in writing with your creditor.

•  Because you are assumed WRONG does NOT mean you now have no RIGHTS as your collector/collection agency tries to insinuate.

•  If a Debt Collector/Collection Agency is harassing, intimidating or threatening you, call the police immediately, or use any force to protect yourself. Examine their actions for any infringement of your rights, including Libel & Slander, the trading of your name as a bad debt when the debt is settled, and consult your attorney. Many Debt Collectors/Collection Agency in our locally UNREGULATED industry are unqualified and downright dishonest. Some even collect your payments and not remit to your creditor thus showing you as a bad debt, which the agency continues to sell to other business. You can SUE your Creditor for this.

•  Insist on a receipt from any collector/agency showing SPECIFICALLY the amount and creditor paid, together with the Creditor's Name to whom the payment is to be applied.

•  Every industry in every nation occasionally suffers setbacks, which greedy and untrained collectors ignore as they focus only on their fees. They count on you NOT knowing your rights under the law, and thrive on extracting payment by making you fearful. You can refuse to deal with them if they are disrespectful to you.

•  Exercise CAUTION in applying for and accepting credit, and it is always better to live BELOW your means, saving money instead. Credit must be understood, managed well, and equally favorable to you.

PIRG is calling for a FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT which would govern HOW debts are to be collected without violating your inherent RIGHTS: This way we can hold debt collectors TO THE LAW.

PIRG wants to make it ILLEGAL for Debt Collectors to:

•  Imply that failure to pay the debt could result in arrest, imprisonment, or garnishment of wages;

•  Call consumers at work when they know the consumers' employers prohibited such calls;

•  Talk with third parties, including neighbors, children, and employers, for purposes other than acquiring location information about consumers, without consumers' consent;

•  Cause the telephone to ring, or engage a person in telephone conversations, repeatedly or continuously, with the intent to annoy, abuse, or harass a consumer;

•  Threaten to take action -- such as filing a lawsuit -- when they did not intend to do so;

•  Call consumers at times or places that they knew or should have known were inconvenient;

•  Fail to notify consumers of their right to dispute and obtain verification of their debts, and to obtain the name of the original creditor  

•  Continue to try to collect debts after consumers disputed them in writing, and before verifying the debts.

•  Use obscene or profane language

To learn more about your Rights as a DEBTOR, visit www.budhibbs.com