I was a manager in 3rd party collections for nearly 10 yrs. Now I work 1st party and love it. I can go on for days about the people I had to fire due to their lack of professionalism and unlawful bullying. Under the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act), when you are being called they must identify who they are and what they are calling about if you are the debtor. If I were you, I would tape your next call with them. They can only call you and speak to you (unless you want them to) once every 7 days. In no way shape or form should they ever belittle you in any way. Each collector is bonded and licensed in their prospective states therefore they can personally be sued along with the company should they break the law.

NEVER do autopays! My stepmom was hurt and had to stop working. What my dad didn't know is that she had set-up all kinds of autopays with different agencies. Some would stop the payments when being told as they were legally bound to do. Other's said that they wouldn't do so. I sat down and wrote out demand letters to them to stop payment and made a copy. When I sent them, I had the company sign for them as proof. I also included a note that they must cease and desist all telephone communications going forward and that all communication must be done by mail.

If you are receiving calls which they are telling you that you owe the bill and you don't know anything about it, chances are they skip traced your name and you may not even be the debtor. Tell them that you want back-up or documentation that solidifies that you are the debtor. If they refuse and continue to talk about the debt then they are in the wrong. NEVER give out your social or other information to them. Sometimes when the accounts come it only has an address and the name. They will ask you leading questions to obtain more pertinent information like your SSN then it will be tagged to your credit report even if the debt isn't yours.

I hope this information has helped you. If you need anything else just let me know.