Legal Rights of Debt Collectors
Debt collectors, or collection agencies, use every legal means available to collect past due debts. While collection agencies have the legal right to pursue payment of debts, many of these companies will use less-than-professional, or even illegal, methods to collect debts. Knowing the legal rights of debt collectors and how they are supposed to operate can save you from undue harassment.
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Contact Times and Methods
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Debt collectors have the right to make legal, reasonable attempts to contact debtors to arrange for payment of a debt. Debt collectors cannot call you at any time or any place. The rule set by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits debt collectors from calling before 8 a.m and after 9 p.m. Calls between these times are allowed. Debt collectors can call you at your place of employment as well, but it you state in writing or orally that you can't accept calls at work, a debt collector cannot bother you at work again.
Continued Contact
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Debt collectors have the right to make repeated attempts to satisfy a debt, unless you dispute the fact that you owe the money in question. At this point, debt collectors must cease all collection attempts until proof that you owe the debt is furnished. Once the agency has notified you of your validation of the debt, legal collection efforts can resume. Further dispute of the debt will need to be negotiated through the agency, and in some cases, through a court of law. As long as a collection agency has written validation of a debt and you have no written means of proving you paid the debt, the collector has the right to pursue repayment.
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Lawsuits
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Debt collectors cannot make false claims of pursuing a lawsuit in an effort to get you to pay a debt, but debt collectors do have the right to sue for payment of a debt. If you lose a debt collection suit, you will be required to pay the debt, associated fees and legal fees. A judgment in favor of a debt collector can lead to wage garnishment.
Unfair Practices
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If a debt collector fails to pursue a debt collection legally, consumers can report the agency responsible for the unfair practices to the attorney general's office of the state from which the collection agency originates. Since many states have individual laws on debt collecting, the state's attorney general can help you determine if a debt collector is breaking the law.
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