Your Rights to Stop Harassment by the Debt Collectors
Insofar as collectors are concerned, you are not required:
- To discuss anything with a collector unless you want to;
- To answer or return the creditor's phone calls (Caller ID really helps).
- To speak with the collector if you do answer.
- To answer any questions at all posed by the collector (collectors will often demand that you rearrange your finances, or cut back on other expenses to pay them; there is no requirement that you justify your lifestyle to a collector).
- To say "good-bye" before you hang up.
- To be truthful about your personal and financial affairs (you do not have to disclose private information about assets or income).
- Important: There is no reason you need to acknowledge that you owe the money! This is very important if the debt is old. By acknowledging the debt, you may actually extend the time the creditor can sue on it. All states have statutes of limitations on debt collecting. Few states are more than six years. Many are less. You can extend this limitation by acknowledging the debt or even by making a partial payment!
The fact is it is important to have a lawyer to prepare a proper "cease communication letter" This copy will be proof of your request should you need to sue the creditor. Once the creditor (in most states) or collector receives your letter, he or she can only contact you through your attorney to inform you of any action he or she intends to take, or to tell you that he is terminating efforts to collect the debt. This letter is enough for you legally stop them from contacting you again, including phone calls and dunning letters. This letter alone will not protect you from a lawsuit though. Likewise, writing the letter does not excuse you from the debt. Many collectors are not attorneys and cannot sue you! This is the reason they harass you in the first place.
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