Debt Collectors can be so rude!

We have probably all, at one point or another, been in a situation where a debt collector calls us out of the blue.  Maybe you owe your cable company some money or your hospital bill didn’t get paid on time.  When the phone rings, you want to cringe! You answer the call and there it is “I’m calling from (Insert Debt Collector Name) in regards to a personal matter.”  Sometimes, they are pleasant and you tell them you can’t talk now, you’ll try to pay, or question the debt.  Other times, it is an embarrassing, humiliating or horrific experience.

But did you know, that there are actually ways to battle against debt collectors.

Once, a debt collector called me for a debt I did not know I owed.  The very polite guy on the other line told me that if I didn’t owe the money, it must have been my husband who is ‘probably cheating on me and spending my money.’!  I was horrified! Who talks that way!  I decided to fight back!  After getting off the phone with them (in tears), I turned to the area of law that governs debt collectors.  The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, or FDCPA, does just that.  It gives Debt Collectors boundaries that they cannot cross or pay a heavy price.  I could get up to $1,000 in my pocket and I would have no attorney fees.

Rosenberg & Hite, LLC, my favorite law firm, LOVES suing debt collectors.  So I had my FREE FDCPA consultation.

Did you know that Debt Collectors CANNOT:

1. Call before 8 am or after 9pm
2. Threaten, harass or be offensive
3. Talk to anyone else in detail about the nature of the call and your debt
4. Call you at work if you told them not to
5. Talk to you after you told them you have an attorney
6. Misrepresent the debt amount or its nature

Debt Collectors MUST:

1. Offer you debt validation in writing
2. Say, each time they call and on every letter: “This company is a debt collector any information obtained can be used in collecting the debt.”
3. Have on each written communication: “This Communication Is From A Debt Collector.”
4. Be registered in the State of Connecticut as a debt collector.

And there are even more rules that they can and do break on a regular basis. This law is very clear and precise about their business practices.

I was able to collect my award of $1,000 for the violations I was subjected to by the debt collector and paid nothing out of pocket.  On top of that, that debt collector never bothered me again.  It was a win win situation for me!

Don’t hesitate to call Rosenberg & Hite, LLC with your debt collection letter and call to see if they can make you money too.  Its was free and totally worth while!