Fair Debt Collection Not A Thing of the Past
As usual, it’s a good news, bad news scenario. For starters you’ve made a commitment to eliminate as many debts as possible. But on the other hand there’s a remnant from the past that has jumped up to bite you. Now, every time the phone rings you jump. The debt collection company has got your number. The creditor harassment has begun.
The calls are coming at all hours, and the voice at the end of the line is getting nasty. You have heard them refer to the “pre-litigation department”. And now they’re saying they will “investigate your assets and mark an involuntary recommendation on your file”.
You have been told you’re refusing to pay and the aggressive debt collectors have threatened to put a lien on your house. Once or twice they even mentioned the possibility of doing jail time if you don’t pay. The truth is you’d like nothing better than to be able to pay – if for no reason other than to stop the calls.
But you should try to keep it in perspective. In days gone by in the British legal system a person who could not pay a debt would be declared bankrupt and imprisoned. They didn’t fool around in those days. Laws in 1571, 1604, and 1623 even made it illegal to help a bankrupt person. In some cases a person could even be hanged, although that didn’t happen very often. Imprisonment was the preferred punishment.
Prior to this, the Greeks and Romans had a simple solution for the poor soul who could not come up with the cash. They simply condemned the debtor to slavery and recouped the debt by eking out hard labor.
So as bad as you are feeling, take a deep breath and be thankful that things are a lot better today. Today in most countries abusing debtors is against the law.
In fact even the practice of harassing a debtor is illegal in the United States. The law designed to stop abusive and overly aggressive collection practices is called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act – FDCPA for short. This law exists to make illegal some of the more common tactics used by debt collectors. The things you are experiencing could very well be turned around and used against the collection agency that is hounding you.
If you think that is the case your best course of action is to contact an attorney who is knowledgeable about such matters. But before you do, it’s a good idea to get your facts straight and make a special point of documenting what is happening to you. Make a note of the phone calls. Do not exaggerate, just record the facts. An experienced debt relief lawyer may find that you are entitled to monetary compensation at the expense of the collection agency.
Filed under: General Interest