If you have ever been contacted by a creditor or a collection agency, you know the sinking feeling they can give you. In particularly bad cases, these debt collection efforts can cross the line into harassment.
You can feel helpless in these situations, but you do have legal protections and ways to make the harassment stop.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is a federal law that controls how debt collectors may contact debtors. Among other things, it prohibits collectors from contacting debtors early in the morning or late at night. Specifically, debt collectors may not contact you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in your time zone unless you have given them permission to do so.
Generally, the FDCPA also prohibits debt collectors from contacting your family or friends about your debt, although there are possible exceptions. They can ask your friends and family about ways to contact you, but they must identify themselves as collection agents and they must stick to the topic of confirming your contact information. They cannot mention your debt.
Telling them to stop contacting you
One way to stop harassment by a debt collector is to send them written notice asking them to cease communication with you. After they have received your written notice, they are greatly limited in their ability to contact you. However, this doesn’t necessarily stop them from trying to collect the debt through other legal means, including litigation. In some cases, they may be able to garnish your wages, put a lien on your real estate or even take funds from your bank accounts to collect on the debt.
If you have an attorney, you may tell the debt collectors to contact your attorney. After you do this, their ability to contact you directly is greatly limited.
Filing for bankruptcy
One of the most important protections afforded under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code is known as the automatic stay. Once you have filed for bankruptcy, the judge notifies your creditors that they may not contact you for the duration of your bankruptcy case. As long as your case is in progress, their efforts to collect the debt must go through the bankruptcy court.
One aspect of the bankruptcy process involves paying off (or partially paying off) your debts. In Chapter 7 bankruptcy, this may involve liquifying assets in order to satisfy your creditors. However, there are exemptions that can allow you to keep some of your most important assets. In Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you execute a repayment plan in which you resolve your debts within 3-5 years.
You do not have to put up with harassment from creditors or debt collection agencies, but it may be wise for you to seek out help from professionals with experience in bankruptcy law to learn about your options to protect yourself.
