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Collection Agency
If you’ve ever been tragically late for a credit card payment you understand the woes of being sent to a collection agency. Being sent to the collection agency is usually the creditors last resort to getting the money owed to them back. Collection agency people are annoying and purposefully so. They start digging in order to get ahold of you in any way possible. So your creepy aunt Elda may receive a call saying that you’re a total loser-bum because you do not pay your bills.
At any rate, the collection agency works as an agent of the creditor in most cases and they get paid a percentage of what they can shake out of you. Due to this fact they never give up because, frankly, they want to get paid, and who can blame them? They gave you the money to pay for things that you wanted and then you backed out on paying them.
Collection agencies usually have a certain protocol for collecting their money. No part of this includes harassment. In fact, if you have found yourself being harassed by a collections agent you may be within your rights to seek help. Things like, contacting you before 8am or after 9pm are not allowed unless you agree to permit them to call at those times. The debt collection agency is also not allowed to contact you at work if they know that the place of your employment is against personal calls of that nature. The problem with this is that it involves your boss in your personal life and may cause him or her to doubt your ability to perform as a qualified worker.
Collection agents can also be thwarted if you have an attorney and instruct them to only speak to you through your legal representation. After you educate them of this they are no longer allowed to bother you. However, they are allowed to contact people in touch with you to gain knowledge of your whereabouts including your phone number and address. In no way whatsoever are they allowed to speak about the amount you owe your creditors with anyone other than your attorney or yourself.
At the same time, you can speak with the collection agent about the money owed. Often times they are instructed to collect an amount up to 60% of what you owe rather than the entire sum of money. This means an outstanding bill of $1,000 could be negotiated down to $550. After speaking things over with them on the phone ask for them to draw up the agreement in writing and send it to you. You should also ask them to agree not to report anything negative about your debt to your credit bureau. You should also ask to have the original creditor sign off on the deal that you have made. And make sure you get something in writing once the final amount of the bill is paid. Doing this could substantiate the nullifying of pesky collection agencies, as well as the removal of your debt.
Topics: Payday Loans |
