Things to consider while dealing with debt collectors

Debt collectors or debt collecting agencies collect debts that are outstanding by pursuing the delinquent borrower through letters and phone calls. Debt collectors convince the borrower to repay what they owe. They are tasked with pursuing people who have not made their scheduled payments on loans or taxes. Confronting a debt collector can cause a lot of stress and ignoring one can create other legal problems.There are several things to consider while dealing with debt collectors.

Debt Information

While dealing with a debt collector, find out about the outstanding amount and confirm whether the debt is yours, also find out about the original creditor to whom you owe the debt. Once established that you owe the debt, find out all the necessary details about the payment such as its date and expiry.

Don’t avoid them

Confronting a debt collector can cause stress as already mentioned but you mustn't ignore them whether you owe payment or not. If you owe the debt, they will keep on calling and contacting you one way or another, and ignoring them for long can stir legal consequences and damage your credit score.

Get debt detailsin writing

True debt collectors are required to send you the details of the debt in writing; it can be a letter or an email. The writing will include all the necessary details such as the name of the party to whom you owe the payment and the outstanding amount.

Know your rights

When it comes to finances, you should always know your rights as a consumer. Debt collectors are not frauds, they are legitimate people but it is also important that you can distinguish between what is fake and what is real.

Debt collectors can only call you during office hours, these hours can vary geographically but they cannot contact you before 8 in the morning or after 9 in the evening. Anything before or after the above-mentioned time reeks of credit fraud.

Debt collectors cannot bully or force you to pay. If there are any legal consequences, they cannot directly get involved with you. Legal consequences no matter how big is settled in the court first. Therefore, they cannot threaten you with arrest or any other sort of punishment, if you are at the receiving end in such a situation contact your federal authorities.

Scam Alert

Frauds are everywhere. They can come dressed up as debt collectors too and trick you into paying amounts that you do not even owe anybody. Therefore, one should keep an eye out for such instances. Some warning signs are as follows:

Make sure that you have received a mail or a letter regarding your debt. One other way of establishing the legitimacy of the debt collector is by asking his or her credentials or any other validation that you can run online.

Make sure the details on the letter match your credentials and do not indulge in any specific transaction method on the persistence of the debt collector.

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