It is a nightmare that anyone who has fallen behind on bills is familiar with. There is a feeling of dread each time the phone rings and an awareness that the caller is likely to be someone who will aggressively push for money that simply is not available. Every person who is in need of credit relief would prefer to be left alone to deal with the situation without stressful and frequent contact with people asking the impossible. Fortunately, there are ways that someone with credit problems can control or completely eliminate creditor harassment.
It Does Not Pay To Avoid Your Bills
Before discussing how to alleviate harassment by bill collectors, it is necessary to touch on the most common mistake made by people who are behind on bills – avoidance. Psychologically, it is perfectly logical. Being the target of debt collectors can make a person feel hunted and many people’s first instinct when being hunted is to hide. In the case of bill collectors, this is exactly the wrong thing to do. There are two reasons for this.
First, while it feels like being stalked from the perspective of the person in credit trouble, the calls and letters are simply a way to establish contact and open negotiations from the perspective of the debt collection department. When these attempts to make contact fail, what is their likely response? It is to more aggressively attempt to make contact – meaning more letters and calls.
Second, many of the protections that are in place to prevent harassment only apply if the person with credit problems has informed the debt collection agency of their situation. In other words, it is legal for the collections department to call someone at work until they have been told not to do so. Likewise, calls at inconvenient times, like early in the morning or late at night are legal as a means to establish contact if calls at other times are not being answered.
Gaining Control of the Situation
The first step to gaining some measure of control over the collection process is answering those calls. Establishing times and places where contact is permitted can alleviate a great deal of stress. Knowing that the period from four to eight in the evening is the designated window for collection business will bring peace of mind during the other parts of the day. Being assured that the collections department will not contact the person at work will prevent that stressful feeling of unease each time the phone rings at work.
To establish these permissible contact windows, simply answer the phone and deal with the collections person. Suggesting a reasonable schedule for contact not only brings peace of mind to the debtor, it also allows the collection agent to avoid wasting time calling during other periods. This verbal agreement is generally sufficient to rein in the activities of most collectors.
Rarely, collection agencies will fail to stick to the verbally negotiated contact schedule. This could be as innocent as a different agent failing to notice the note attached to the account or as deliberate as the agent actively choosing to break the agreement. In such cases, a letter restating the agreed upon terms for contact should be sent to the collector via certified mail. By sending a certified letter and keeping a copy, legally binding evidence is created that shows the collection agency has been informed of the permissible contact windows. This hard evidence is essential to give the debtor legal proof should the harassment become a court matter.
You could always file a claim in small claims court for a Fair Debt Collections Practices Act violation for bill collector harassment.
Lastly, it is possible to deny the collection department permission to contact the debtor altogether. This is done by the same certified mail process as legally establishing contact timelines. Be aware though, this is an option that is basically drawing a line in the sand. Denied their preferred method of operation, personal contact, debt collectors will immediately turn to their only alternative – legal action.
While gaining some control over the activities of bill collectors can bring peace of mind, it does nothing to alleviate the underlying problem. The unpaid bills themselves are the problem, collectors are only the symptom. For anyone struggling with bills, the only real way of quickly eliminating collector activity and taking steps to straighten out the debt situation is to turn to a third party.
People often consider a debt consolidation loan when exploring the third party option. The problem with this solution is that it requires qualifying for that loan. In other words, the people most badly in need of the service do not qualify for it because of bad credit scores. For those in real credit trouble, a better option is dealing with a firm that offers credit consolidation through settlement. Instead of creating an entirely new loan, these professionals negotiate with the client’s existing creditors to secure better terms. This is the best of both worlds as it stops the harassment while also creating a path out of the situation.
If you want to stop bill collector harassment and start moving toward financial health, fill out our form for a no obligation quote from the leading debt consolidation companies. Get debt consolidation help now.