The following debt collection practices are among those that are prohibited.
Debt collectors may NOT:
• Harass, oppress or abuse you or any third parties they contact.
• Use threats of harm.
• Publish a list of consumers who refuse to pay their debts.
• Use obscene language.
• Repeatedly use the telephone to annoy someone.
• Take or threaten to take your property unless this can be done legally.
They are also restricted in the statements they can make to debtors.
Debt collectors may NOT tell you that:
• You will be arrested if you do not pay your debt.
• They will seize, garnish, attach or sell your property or wages, unless the collection agency or creditor intends to do so and it is legal to do so.
• They will take actions, such as a lawsuit, against you, when such action legally may not be taken, or when they do not intend to do so.
Finally, debt collectors may NOT:
• Give false credit information about you to anyone.
• Send you anything that looks like an official document from a court or government agency when it is not.
• Use a false name.
A debt collector is permitted to contact you in person, by mail, phone, telegram or fax. However, he or she may not contact you at inconvenient times or places (such as before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., unless you agree). And, they may not contact your place of work if the collector knows that your employer disapproves of such contacts.
Report any problems you have with a debt collector to your state Attorney General’s office. You may also want to file a complaint with your Better Business Bureau.
They called 5 times within a 2 hour period - last call at 9:30pm. The message left was telling me I needed to call immediately to clear up a debt, or my credit could be seriously damaged. When I finally waited for an operator to get on the phone, they use a robot dialer so there isn't actually a real person on the call when it is placed, the person they were trying to reach doesn't even live in my home. It was a distant relative of my husbands. When I asked how they got my number, they hung up.
They call me EVERYDAY, sometimes twice a day, and leave me voicemails. It's an automated voice that isn't even asking for me or anyone related to me, so I know it's a scam. I called them back and a non-English speaking person answered. I told them to stop calling me. Then they called me back 10 minutes later and hung up. God.
These twits are asking for harassment charges. Wrong number, do no call list, no debt... What the hell are they trying to prove!? Automated messages or eerie silences, hangs up constantly, I've had an easier time talking to manic depressives while they're drunk! I am not jean lewis menawits or whatever the hell the thing is rattling off; my credit history is pristine. Go away debt collectors! Go sue your own grandmother if you're so greedy.