Debt collectors can contact your debtors on your behalf if the debtor is not paying bills on time. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It forbids a debt collector from using unfair means or abusive language to collect debt from debtors. A debt collector frequently collects debts owed by others to you or your company. These collectors can be anybody including lawyers, collection agencies, or companies which purchase neglectful debts and then collect them.
Some Information
The Act contains some clauses which the debt collectors have to follow. They cannot just contact the debtors any time they want. They should only do this between 8 in the morning and before 9 at night unless otherwise agreed to by debtors. The collectors cannot contact the debtors at work if the latter tells them to either in writing or orally. The debts covered under the Act include personal, household, and family debts. They also include medical bills, auto loans, and mortgage payments. The debts one incurred to run a business are not covered under the Act.
What Are The Rights Of The Debtors?
It is very stressful to deal with a debt collector. They can make harassing calls or threaten you. However, the most embarrassing thing he can do to you is by contacting you in front of family, friends, neighbors, or employers. One of the ways to avoid them and feel less embarrassed is by knowing your rights as a debtor under the FDCPA. The first thing to know is the reason why you are being contacted by the debt collector. You should make sure that you have not been wrongly picked by the recovery agency for debt collection. An imposter may have misused your identity to get a credit and you may be experiencing difficulties because of him. However, a third possibility is that you may not have paid the creditor the amount owed in months now. Creditors employ a debt recovery agency to collect payments on their behalf.
If you do not fall under the third category, you should make sure that the collector should have done the necessary investigations on his part before contacting you. This is a requirement under the federal law. You should know that even if you owe a debt, you owe fair treatment from the collector and respect for your privacy. Try to collect as much information about the collector as possible. If the debt collectors call you before contacting you directly, ask for their names, the name of the collection agency, and the name of the creditor, and the address for contacting them.
You can also ask the collector that you would like your privacy and would prefer further contact in writing. You can tell him not to contact you at work. You can tell the debt collectors that you are the only person to be contacted. They should not contact your friends, family, employers, or neighbors in case you are not available.
It is easy to find many expert and highly trained debt collectors in the UK. You can either be a private individual or a multinational company to get in touch with them. They specialize in fast and efficient debt collection.
