Brent's Credit and Debt blog

Finally, I got smart. There is a law, Called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, that regulates how debt collectors are allowed to contact you, including how often, where they can call, and what they can say.

They are easy to hate, aren’t they?

They call you and demand money for something you couldn’t pay for in the first place. They try to help you ‘find’ money by taking out additional loans, or by borrowing from family. They want you to make payments. They are even willing to waive the interest they charged you.

The law prevents harassment by a debt collector. It is harassment if they call you at work?
My latest Ask Brent video discusses this. You can watch it here: httpv://www.youtube.com/user/MyCredEd.

The statute of limitations for your state determines how long you can be sued for a debt. However, if you treat your debt wrong, the state of limitations can be reset and the clock starts over.

The debt collector can get a lot of information about you. However, do they have the right to see your bank records?

Well, it happened. You didn’t make your payments, and now your account is going to collections. I know how you feel. You get a sinking feeling in your gut, you know this is going to make getting credit really tough, and you start to worry about getting sued.

Getting sued is a terrible thing. The prospect of having to go to court, the possibility of a judgment on your credit report, and having to meet a debt collector face to face fills most people with dread. Unfortunately, once that suit is filed, there is very little you can do to get out of going to court.

When you are talking to a debt collector, they are only interested in getting their money. They have paid a certain amount to buy your debt, and they are really looking for a way to make money from that purchase. They are often willing to be flexible in working with you, as long as they get that money.

You have an account at collections. Face it, you have a problem to deal with. The stress is just about unbearable, and the fact is that you are legally responsible for the money. The fact is that your account has been sold, and you now have to deal with the repercussions of not paying for the debt on time.
When a collection agency receives your debt, they have a couple of courses of action that they can take. The first, as you know, is to start calling you and try to collect. That is the most common method of getting money from a debtor on a defaulted account. The collection agency has another option, though. They can choose to sue you for the money.

So, you’ve missed a payment or two. You probably could have made them, but other things, like eating, got in the way. Now your creditor is calling, writing, emailing, and generally acting like you are a bad person. You don’t want this to go to collection, and you don’t want to lose the ability to use the card. So, how long do you have before the creditor writes you off?