Stop Debt Collectors
Who Use Unfair or Obscene Tactics

You can stop debt collectors who use unfair debt collection tactics like obscene or threatening phone calls, or putting you in hot water at work by contacting you at your place of employment, or by speaking to your friends or family.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a law that is intended to provide protection to consumers from the mistreatment of debt collectors who might otherwise engage in unethical, harassing, and abusive behaviors.

The FDCPA ensures that debt collection will be undertaken in a fair and respectful manner. The main purpose of the law is to ensure ethical practices are followed when debt collectors go about their business of collecting debt. Any invasion of privacy, abuse, harassment, offensive or misleading behavior is not tolerated in the law.

The law also outlines various rules that any collection agency must follow whenever they are undertake any sort of debt collection. Many debt collectors will assume that the people they are dealing with know nothing about the laws that protect them from harassment. If you have been mistreated, you do have some recourse as long as you are willing to take the necessary actions.

You should keep in mind that if you have borrowed money for any reason you are required to repay those debts. The FDCPA also protects creditors and provides them with clear means to obtain payments and collect debt. They are allowed to search for a person as well as contact them for payment.

Locating a Debtor

A debt collector:

• Must identify himself when making contact with a debtor.
• Must state that he is trying to confirm or correct location information about a person.
• Must only mention a debtor's employer if requested to do so by that debtor.
• Must not state that the person owes a debt.
• May contact a person only once unless further contact is requested by that person.
• May contact a person again if he reasonably believes the first contact was erroneous or incomplete.
• May not communicate by postcard.
• May communicate by mail using only plain envelopes not marked in a way that indicates debt collection.
• May only communicate with the debtor's attorney once he knows the debtor has an attorney.

The methods listed above are ways that a debt collector may contact a person about confirming location. After reading these you can see that should you fail to respond to a location verification request the debt collector may continue to call you. To stop debt collectors from continued calls regarding location you should give them accurate information about your location.

Communicating About Debt

A debt collector:

• May call you about collection of a debt between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time.
• May not contact a person at work if the collector knows or has reason to believe doing so is prohibited by employer policy.
• May not communicate with anyone other than debtor, spouse, or his attorney concerning the debt.
• May communicate only with the debtor's attorney once he knows the debtor has an attorney.

A debt collector must cease communications with a debtor if the debtor tells them, in writing, that they want the debt collector to stop all further communication. However, if you do so the debt collector may contact you to advise you further efforts are terminated or to tell you they are pursuing another course of action.

Debt Collection Tactics Forbidden by the FDCPA

A debt collector:

• Must not use or threaten violence or other harm to a person, property, or reputation.
• Must not use obscene, profane, or abusive language.
• Threaten to publicly publish the name of a debtor.
• Must not make repeated or continuous phone calls to the debtor.
• Must not make any false representation of himself, the debt, or his compensation.
• May not falsely imply that failing to pay the debt would result in arrest, imprisonment, or wage garnishment
• May not falsely imply that a debtor has committed a crime.
• May not communicate any false information about the debt.
• May not use any deceptive means to attempt to collect a debt or information about the debtor.
• May not falsely imply that a debtor has committed a crime.
• May not communicate any false information about the debt.
• May not use any deceptive means to attempt to collect a debt or information about the debtor.

Unfortunately, the remedies for consumers in the FDCPA are limited and rather weak. You could take legal action against the debt collector but under this part of the code you are limited in recovery to any actual damage with a cap of $1000 and attorney's fees. You can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission; however this would be for data base purposes only as the FTC does not resolve individual complaints.

Best Bet to Stop Debt Collectors

The first, and easiest stop debt collectors is talk to them and try to resolve the issue. If the debt is not yours you may be able to explain or prove this to them and end the whole debt collection process right there.

To stop debt collectors calls you will need to send them a letter, certified mail with return receipt, that you are either refusing to pay the debt, that you are not responsible for the debt, or that you wish them to stop all further communications about the debt.

Keep in mind, that although the law does protect you from certain unethical collection behaviors, you are still liable to repay your debts.