Hate Debt Collectors? We Can Help

Debt collectors are more aggressive now than they’ve ever been; there some few reasons for their stepped-up levels of harassment, and there also are recourses for people who are being contacted repeatedly, and/or illegally, by such agencies.When the economy hit the wall in 2008 and America entered the recession that it’s still struggling to break of, debt collectors took a gamble: they bought up millions of dollars in consumer debt (underwater mortgages, medical debt, credit card debt, etc.), and are desperate to get their money back, whether or not the debt is still owed, and by whatever ruthless means necessary—contacting your family and friends, stalking you on Facebook (Cogent Financial Group was cited for that one), leaving threatening messages, etc.As a citizen of the United States, you have a right to privacy, and to be treated civilly by everyone; in terms of debt collection agencies, these rights are protected by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  If an aggressive debt collector calls and threatens you with physical harm or litigation, they’ve violated the law.  It’s also illegal for them to call you nonstop and after business hours; contact your friends, family, or coworkers regarding your debt; contact your place of employment (other than to verify that you work there); fail to identify themselves over the phone; or robocall your cellphone.It’s important to remember that employees of collection agencies don’t care whether you’re in debt because you broke your leg, lost your job, or ran up your credit card; there’s really no reasoning with debt collectors, all they care about is getting into your bank account.  It’s wise to keep a call log of who contacted you from the collection agency (or agencies), the time of day they called, and the comments they made; should you proceed to bankruptcy court, or, less drastically, debt negotiation, your attorney will need this information (and, if the companies have been acting illegally, the record will help your case).  If you have a recording device and can capture the whole call, so much the better.If a collection agency has harassed you, you may be entitled to money damages up to $1,000.00, based on the FDCPA, which has been around for almost 35 years.  The FDCPA is a federal law that applies to every state.  In other words, everyone is protected by the FDCPA.  The FDCPA is essentially a laundry list of what debt collectors can and cannot do while collecting a debt, as well as things debt collectors must do while collecting a debt.  Plus, the FDCPA has a fee-shift provision.  This means, the collection agency pays your attorney’s fees and costs.  Founding attorney, Michael Agruss, has settled over 1,500 debt collection harassment cases.  We want to help you, too.