5 Tips to Help Consumers Deal with Debt Buyers

There is a huge business that is centered around buying debts from companies and then harassing consumers to pay these debts. However, according to federal law there is a time period in which a consumer cannot be hassled about a debt, due to the age or time that has lapsed since this debt took place. The problem occurs, when debt collectors do not adhere to these rules, and consumers are the ones who are left suffering.When a debt buyer purchases your debt, there are several things in which you can do to ensure that it is legal for the buyer to be harassing you about your debt.1. Ask to see the receipt, as debt buyers are issued a receipt from the original credit collector. You will want to see the receipt in order to see if the debt buyer really has any claim to your debt case or not.2. Ask to see the documentation that shows this debt is yours. Under the FDCPA, consumers have 30 days to request documentation of a debt when they are first approached about paying this debt back. Be sure that you go through all of this documentation in order to ensure that the debt is proven yours and is something in which you committed.3. Consider how old the debt is, as most states have a statue of limitations on a debt and how long a debt collector can try to collect on this. You should be certain that you do not cancel this statute of limitations by making a payment, as this can bring the debt back into fair play for the collectors.4. Know the communication rules of the debt collector and the consumer, as debt buyers cannot discuss your debt with any third party, unless you release the information to allow them to do this. In addition, these debt buyers cannot use threats in order to get you to pay, use language that is offensive, and the like. You should respond to written contact, in order to ensure that you maintain your rights as the consumer.5. Know what to do and what not to do, as knowledge is power. Those consumers who have no idea how the consumer law works, are going to be more likely to pay the debt and any fees that the debt buyer puts onto this sum. However, those who have knowledge of the debt collecting world are often looked at as being a difficult case, thus debt buyers move onto an easier case.If you are being harassed over a debt, you may be entitled to money damages. Get up to $1,000 for harassment, and $500-$1,500 for illegal robocalls. Under various state and federal laws, we will help you based on a fee-shift provision and/or based on a contingency fee. That means, the collector pays your attorney’s fees and costs. You won’t pay us a penny. We have settled thousands of debt collection harassment cases. Let us help you today. Contact Mike Agruss Law at 888-572-0176 to stop the harassment once and for all.