Oregon Debt Relief
Beaver State Offers for Debt Relief

According to Oregon debt relief laws, a consumer's failure to pay a legal debt constitutes a breach of contract. Whether in oral or written form, an agreement for consumer debt is a legal contract.

The agreement forming the basis for a business debt must be reduced to writing to be enforceable in Oregon. No law requires a creditor to accept less than the amount the consumer agreed to pay, although they may accept a settlement offer of less than the full amount owed by the debtor. By doing so the creditor is agreeing to forego the remainder for the consideration of getting some of the money he is owed.

The Oregon Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

The Oregon Fair Debt Collection Practices Act follows the pattern set by the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act very closely, the two pieces of legislation are very similar. If a debt collector abides by the precepts of the federal statute he will be in compliance with Oregon debt relief laws.

The rationale for both laws is to limit and restrict any harassment or offensive conduct on the part of a professional debt collector against a debtor. It is important to note that the definition of a debt collector for the purposes of this legislation is someone who regularly collects debts for others as a regular course of their business. Neither of these laws applies to a creditor trying to collect a debt owed to him, but only to debt collectors and collection agencies.

According to Oregon debt relief laws, a debt collector is allowed to contact a debtor by telephone, in person, or in writing. Within five days of the first contact, the debt collector must provide written information on the name of the creditor and the exact amount owed. At this point it is incumbent upon the debtor to respond within 30 days if he wishes to dispute the debt.

Failure to respond is a legal presumption that the debtor acknowledges that the debt is valid. If, however, the dispute letter is mailed, the debt collector must provide written evidence of the original debt, such as the signed contract forming the basis for the debt. Failure to provide this evidence will preclude the collector from continuing any collection activities.

Furthermore, if a debtor writes a letter to the collector stating that he doesn’t want to be contacted again or even that he never intends to pay the debt, the collector must abstain from further contact. However, this will not prevent other legal collection means from being brought to bear against the debtor.

Oregon Debt Relief—State Specific Provisions

Oregon debt relief provisions found in the Oregon Fair Debt Collection Practices Act are quite specific and include:

• Collection agents are prohibited from using or threatening to use force to collect the debt.
• They may not intimidate the debtor by threatening arrest or prosecution for his failure to pay the debt.
• A collection agent may only contact the debtor at his workplace if he is unreachable at home and must stop contacting him there if he is asked to cease.
• Telephone calls to the debtor must be between the hours of 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM.
• A debt collector may not continuously place telephone calls to the debtor with the intent to harass or badger the debtor or his family.
• A collection agent may not use abusive or obscene language when communicating with the debtor.
• Collectors may not threaten to contact the debtor's employer regarding the debt.
• In any verbal communication with the debtor the collector must disclose the purpose of the call within the first 30 seconds.
• Use of guile or deceit to elicit information from the debtor is not legal.
• A collector may not try to collect more money than is legally owed not counting legal fees or collection fees as stipulated in the debt instrument.

In short, under Oregon debt relief laws a debt collector may not use fraud or deceit to collect a debt and certainly may not represent himself as an agent of a court or in any way infer that the debtor's legal recourses may be impinged by not immediately paying off the debt.

Oregon Debt Relief—Bankruptcy Options

Oregon debt relief laws contemplate the possible filing of a bankruptcy petition in federal court. Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a reorganization that allows the debtor to retain his property and the court restructures his debt. The debtor pays a court appointed trustee who pays his creditors. The debtor is protected from legal actions such as home foreclosure by invoking this remedy. After three or five years, as the court decrees, the debt is legally discharged by the court even though the creditors were not paid in full.

A Chapter 7 filing is a straight liquidation of the debtor's assets to satisfy his obligation to his creditors. His assets are sold and the proceeds used to pay off his debts. Even though bankruptcy is a federal court proceeding, the court refers to Oregon state law in some instances. Oregon debt relief laws provide for the exemption of certain property from bankruptcy seizure and sale.

Besides the usual exemptions of personal effects and tools of trade, Oregon provides a homestead exemption for the debtor’s principle place of residence depending on the appraisal of the home. If the bankruptcy trustee determines that the home appraises for less than the outstanding loan amount the Oregon exemption allows the homeowner to keep his house but he must continue to make the payments.

Statute of Limitations

Oregon debt relief laws also include the state statute of limitations regarding collecting a debt legally deemed to be stale. In Oregon, credit card and contractual debt is legally uncollectible after six years. Judgments have a 10 year life but may be renewed by the creditor prior to the expiration of the time period.

Oregon debt relief laws mirror federal legislation in protecting the debtors in that state from harassing collection techniques. These laws don't attempt to forestall the collection of a legal debt, but insure that undue or abusive practices are not brought to bear against the debtor.