Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - How To Deal With Bill Collectors

One of the main concerns when dealing with bill collectors is knowing how to safeguard yourself and handle the debt collectors and not let the situation escalate beyond your control. There a few ways to do that.

There is a bill meant to help individuals deal with aggressive debt collectors. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is a guideline that must be followed when a debt collector is attempting to collect payment on a debt. It is prohibited by law for a collector to call your home before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m.. They are prohibited from disturbing you with calls after you have insisted they do so, neither can they threaten to seize your salary. For more information go to => www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm#801.

Use your answering machine to screen your calls before picking them up. Adding anonymous call blocking to your phone line can also help from receiving the unwanted collection calls. Well, at least from having to talk with the person on the other end. However, if you decide to answer the phone you can request that the collector no longer call you. Once you have stated to them that you don't want any further phone calls, legally they have to stop the phone calls to you.

Before you take some of the more drastic measures, you should consider making arrangements with the company to pay off the debt. In many cases, the collector is authorized to reduce the amount owed in order to collect the money. The calls from the agency will cease if you can reach an understanding on payment arrangements.

Keep a log of all calls between yourself and the collection agency. If you have agreed to any payments be sure that you write it down as well as the person you made the agreements name with. Try your best to keep the agreement you have made, if you are unable to keep it notify the company as soon as possible. If you have indicated that the collector cease calling you, you can record any further calls made to you by them. Be sure you alert them to the fact that the calls are being recorded. It is usually helpful in reducing the number of disturbing calls.

For most of the time, you can usually bargain for the amount of cash you need to pay. The collection agency gets a commission off of the amount of money they successfully collect. Thus, for many debt collectors, they are willing to collect smaller amounts to offset their losses. In their eyes, any money is more than nothing.

If you agree to a smaller payment, be sure to request that there should be no further negative marks placed on your credit report. Also, be instant that they promptly report the payments made as well as adjusting the amount that is owed on your credit report.

After you make an initial good faith payment, you should receive an agreement. The contract should reflect the amount owed as well as the specific terms of agreement. Send as little of a first payment as possible. This will insure that they will keep their end of the agreement and hold true to the contract.