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Are Creditors Harassing You? Here is how you can make them stop!

You are enjoying a quiet dinner at home with your family. The phone rings. You pause for just a moment. It rings a second time and you go to the phone to check the caller ID. It's a long distance number you don't recognize and you know it's another one of those annoying creditors.

It can be so embarrassing and nerve wracking to have creditors harassing you. They call you all the time, even at work. Don't you have some rights? Isn't there something, anything you can do?

There are actually several things you can do to stop creditors from harassing you. You should act quickly - first time you receive a harassing phone call from a creditor, send the creditor a letter by certified mail to make sure they receive it. This is known as a "Do Not Call" letter. In it, you will ask that they no longer harass you with phone calls and tell them how to properly contact you

The best way to make creditors stop harassing you is to prevent the situation from coming to that in the first place. As soon as you know you will be unable to pay a bill on time, call the company to whom you owe the debt and try to work out a payment plan. This shows good faith on your part and makes it less likely that they will harass you.

You should keep a log of calls from creditors if you are having this problem. Write down when they called, what debt they called about, who they are collecting the debt for and the name of the person calling you. Unless it is illegal in your state, record these calls and tell the callers that they are being recorded; this may even prevent more calls!

Federal statutes are in place to protect people in your situation too. Creditors are not permitted to call you before 8 in the morning or after 9 in the evening, and may call you only one time after sending them as "Do Not Call" letter - and this is a call to tell you they will stop calling. Creditors may not under any circumstances call you at work, ever. If this ever happens, tell them so.

Creditors also may not threaten or harass your children, threaten to take action which is beyond the few actions which are legally available to them (more on this in a minute), or talk to anybody not involved with the debt about the matter. They cannot put you in prison (or threaten to) and cannot confiscate property or garnish wages, unless said property was put up as collateral for a loan.

There are only three things a creditor can do legally. 1.) They can stop doing business with you. 2.) They can report your failure to pay to a credit reporting agency. 3.) They can sue you to collect the debt. It is doubtful, however, that they will actually sue you because it is not generally worth the legal costs they will incur to collect what you owe them. If you have collateral on the debt, it can be confiscated if you fail to pay your debt. You don't have to be a victim of creditor harassment. You, as a citizen and as a human being, have rights. If you feel that you are being unjustly harassed or verbally bullied by a creditor, there are actions you can take to stop the embarrassment, mental stress and scare tactics of creditor harassment. You deserve respect as a human being and shouldn't be treated like a criminal just because you are a little behind in a bill that you fully intend to pay.

Another thing they cannot do is bully and harass you. You are a citizen and you have legal rights and protections. If you are being harassed by a creditor, you can stop them. You don't have to be treated badly on account of debt which you fully intend to repay.

Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles

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