If you have a credit card and have ever fallen behind on your payments then you have probably interacted with a debt collector. These are people that earn their lives by contacting people with debts in order to get them to pay. When someone owes money to a bank or a financial entity the first thing they should expect is a phone call from a collecting agency.
What these agencies do is try to contact people by any means necessary in order to get them to pay the money that they owe. In exchange for this most agencies receive a percentage of the total amount of the debt. It is quite common for a debt collector to call and not say that they are calling from an agency, rather they will tell you they work directly for the bank or company they are representing.
We are now going to expand a little bit on some of the best ways to deal with debt and bill collectors. The first and most obvious recommendation we can give you is not to give collectors a reason to call you. Try to avoid being on a collector’s list by always paying your debts in time and in accordance to the terms of your contract. Being targeted by a collecting agency is like poison for your record history and it can greatly affect your future in a negative way.
Try to stay clear from debts and collectors by only using credit when necessary and if you must, try to pay it off as soon as you possibly can. If you loaned money to a friend you would like to have them pay you back, the same thing happens with banks. They only want their money back.
Now then, in case you do have red in your book and are now finding yourself in the awkward situation of dealing with debt collectors here are some tips on how to deal with them.
- Face your problems. Avoiding or running away from collectors and their calls is quite useless. Within the limits of what they are allowed to do, they will keep a constant stream of calls until they manage to contact you. Collectors are prohibited by law to call more than once a day and they must do it within business hours. But they will call you every day until they get a hold on you. Remember that they get paid to do so, they have to be insisting. Many agencies just want people to pay up and they will try to use all sorts of tricks and gimmicks to smoke the money out of your pockets. So instead of having someone calling you every single day answer the phone and see if you can negotiate with them or come to an arrangement, something that will benefit both parties.
- Don’t take it personally. Easier said than done but keep in mind that there is no reason why an agency would call you every day just for fun. This is what they do. They have a job and that is to get people to pay. Remember that the person calling you is not out there to get you, they are just doing their job.
When you are first contacted by a collecting agency the best thing you can do is keep the conversation as short and simple as you can. Collectors are legally obligated to send you a written notification of your debt five days after first contacting you. Wait until then to engage them.
Try to stay clear from debts and collectors by only using credit when necessary and if you must, try to pay it off as soon as you possibly can. If you loaned money to a friend you would like to have them pay you back, the same thing happens with banks. They only want their money back.
3. Know their limits. There are things that a collecting agency can and can’t legally do. Some of the things that are off limits are using obscene or threatening language, harassing you with constant calls, calling you outside of business hours (8 a.m. to 9 p.m.), they can’t call you at work without your consent, discuss your debt with a third party, or threating to take legal actions if they don’t actually intend on doing it. Keep in mind that if an agency violates any of these laws you should immediately report them to the authorities.
4. Make sure that the debt is yours. Or that it is real. You wouldn’t be the first person to be victim of identity theft, having your credit card stolen or cloned, or maybe it’s all a simple mistake. If the debt they are calling you about seems odd or unfamiliar check your records before agreeing to pay for anything. Make sure that the debt is actually yours. If this is the case you should contact the collector and explain your case and why you will not be paying. It’s best if you do this via certified mail. You can also ask the collector to do a debt verification.
5. Negotiate. The ideal situation for any agency is that people pay the entirety of their debts but this is rarely the case. If you can’t pay off the entire debt then try to explain your situation to the agency and see if you can reach an agreement on a payments plan with them. If they agree to this, have them send you the agreement in a written letter before you pay.
6. Ask for help. If negotiations prove futile and you simply can’t reach an agreement with the collector then you better contact an attorney. Remember that if the collecting agency tells you that they are going to take your case to court they truly intend to. Most agencies will avoid getting to this point because it is v going to take your case to court they truly intend to. payments pery expensive for them.
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Debt collectors may seem to be a plague from hell but if you’re smart enough you can surely be capable of dealing with them and you won’t let your life go down the drain because of them.