With home values plummeting and unemployment at the highest point in recent memory, an increasing number of Americans are having a hard time keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table. All too often, there just isn’t enough money left over to pay the bills. This means that more consumers than ever before are falling prey to unscrupulous debt collectors, who will go to any length to get folks to pay up.
If you’re receiving debt collection letters or debt collection agency phone calls, it’s imperative that you understand your debt collection rights. Knowledge is power, and when you know the difference between legal and illegal debt collector behavior, you can draw a line in the sand and let debt collection agencies know that they can’t browbeat or threaten you.
The primary law that protects you is the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. (Learn about state fair debt collection laws.) Originally enacted in 1978, the FDCPA outlines exactly what debt collectors and debt collection agencies can and cannot do in an attempt to collect a debt. It also outlines your right to dispute a debt, and the responsibility of the debt collector to prove that the debt is yours to pay.
Click on a link below to learn more about your debt collection rights, or how to formulate your own debt collector action plan.
- The difference between original and third-party debt
- How debt collectors track you down
- Legal and illegal debt collection tactics
- The 5-day validation notice
- Your 30-day dispute period
- Develop a debt collector action plan
