Debt collection question?

Question

I got a call from a debt collector. She said I could make a check payment over the phone. I told her my account doesn't have enough money in it to do that. My payment is due on March 12th according to the bill they mailed to me. The woman kept insisting I make a post dated check and they will take the money out then. I told her no, I will mail the money as soon as I know I can cover it. We went back and forth on this for awhile and I told her what if the funds are not in the bank by the posted date, then I have more problems with bounced check. She was getting very annoyed with me cuz I wouldn't pay by phone. I told her I cannot give you what I don't have. I was behind in payments but this is the last one that I'm behind in and then I can pay my regular monthly bill . Any way she said Well I will be calling you every day until we receive your payment. I told her fine, look forward to hearing from her. Is this harrassment? Or is this just the way debt collection works?

Answer 1

PLEASE LISTEN TO ME. I HAVE BEEN IN THE DEBT MANAGEMENT BUSINESS FOR 4 YEARS. YOU NEED TO LOG ONTO THE WEB SITE IT IS THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. THE WEB ADDRESS IS WWW.FTC.GOV
SHE IS BREAKING THE FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT. AS A CONSUMER YOU DO HAVE RIGHTS THIS IS HARASSMENT AND BY LAW SHE IS NOT ALLOWED TO CALL YOU EVERYDAY. IF SHE CALLS YOU AGAIN TELL HER SHE IS BREAKING THE FAIR DEBT ACT. MAKE HER REALIZE YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR RIGHTS.
YOU CAN ALSO SEND HER A CEASE AND DESIST LETTER BUT THIS LAW AND WHAT I AM SAYING ONLY APPLIES TO A COLLECTION AGENCY NOT THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THE DEBT. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO E-MAIL ME WITH ANY QUESTION YOU HAVE. YOU CAN ALSO SETTLE THE ACCOUNT FOR A FRACTION OF WHAT YOU OWE. CONTACT ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFO.

Answer 2

If you weren't going to have the money in the bank on the 12th for a mailed in check, how in the world is that different than setting up a postdated check for the 12th? Your statement told the collector that you weren't serious about sending your payment in on the date due.
If it was just a matter of not having all of the money ontime, you should have explained that and had her set up a post dated check for a later date in the month. I can almost guarantee she would have done it for you.

And to answer your question: Yes they can call you every day. And if your payment is not received ontime they can look in to further collection procedures to guarantee your debt is resolved in a timely manner.

I know though from the statement you made that you have no intention of making your payment ontime (as the collections rep did), otherwise you would have already had it in the mail and given her the check number or money order number in good faith.

Answer 3

i used to work in collections....
Tell her:"According to the FDCP law*,I am informing u that i wish to recieve NO MORE calls,but you may communicate to me by letters only." send a letter just to make sure.
The bill collectors will get FIRED if they cant make their quota,thats why they GOTTA get these debtors to:"Pay the WHOLE AMOUNT ,It's Due TODAY"
TODAY!!!!thats their motto
but dont take it personally(they aint)Thats the way they are trained
Their job is to scare you. they say "We MAY proceed with Legal 'Actions'..."(By law,they CANT say "we're gonna sue u")
Dont give em your work number,nor the name of the company that you work for,...dont give em any personal information(or they CAN get you garnished!) if they DO decide to actually garnish you
It'll take FOREVER!(It's easier to just collect on the debt than it is to actually sue!)
If all else fails,just hang up on em(by law,they can only call you 1 or 2 times in one day!)


*The Fair Debt&Collections Practice

P.S. Postdate checks AINT the name of the game for collectors
a Post-date ck is really just a PTP(Promise To Pay)
when i was in collections,...the name to the game was: Check By Phone(Right NOW) OR gettin a c/c (Credit card) payment via phone (RIGHT NOW)
((a payment "RIGHT NOW" is another primary motto))
Anything that u say to them,after the conversation they label what youre doing :'she made a PTP', or 'the debtor is stalling' or 'the dbtr is disputing the bill' or 'dbtr is objecting the bill'(as far as the collector is concerned if youre not making a payment,..then youre doing 1 of those 4 things;disputing/stalling/promising/objecting)
if all else fails they aim to get you on a payment plan to pay the bill off in 3 or 4 payments,..However lots of debtors owe to more than 10 diffrent creditors! So I used to sometimes let em go with a plan to pay $25-$50 twice a month till the bill is PIF'd(Paid in Full)But my Manager will start talking trash about me! "Mr.Anderson is being a Customer Service Rep! Mr.Anderson cant seem to get any REAL payments!"
Intense Pressure is on the collector also,a lot of Collectors get Promised a check by the 15th from the debtor,but it never happens! and THAT Happens All the Time!!

Answer 4

Firstly for everone who said they can't call you after 5pm- look again its 9pm in YOUR timezone (not the debt collectors) Also not all debt collectors are jerks, I am one personally and I have dealt with a debt collector who was very very rude and broke the FDCPA- But he was in 1st party collections in which they can get away with anything...I personally work in 3rd party collections for a law firm and we have very strict rules we have to follow. If you don't want to do a post dated check tell them you simply aren't comfortable, or that you are about to close it and change banks(white lie, but entirely believable) I have actually told debtors to say that to other collectors who try to pressure them, works wonders. you can also offer to pay part of it if you wish via money order or something, overall its up to you ultimately, if they report your past due account to the credit bureau , it's your credit and the calling you everyday aspect, Harrassment is NOT DEFINED IN THE FDCPA, it is anything that makes you FEEL harassed so it is up to you if she is harassing you, if you decide its harassment and they call you everyday, speak to their manager or another collector and have it noted you do not want any more calls to contact you only by letters. Be careful of doing that however, mail can get lost and could make for more problems(you can always call them too!) Good Luck I hope you put that jerk of a collector in their corner!!

Answer 5

Unfortunately, the debt collectors get paid by getting the consumer to pay what's owed, so more than likely, she will call you often until the debt is paid. you were correct by not putting yourself in additional jeopardy by giving money you didn't have. that's insane. remember, banks scan in checks now and the money can/will be made available immediately. so, never do the post date check thing. If you have the opportunity, send them more than the agreed amount. that might keep them at bay. but most importantly, pay it off so you won't hear from that creep again. good luck.

Answer 6

They can call from 9am - 5pm weekdays. If they call outside those hours they are in violation of the FTC (federal trade commission) per the FCRA (fair credit reporting act). If she calls again I would inform her of this and let her know that you will be keeping track of when she calls and recording the conversations in order to monitor what she says and make sure she's compliant with the FTC. This would scare any debt collector and they will leave you alone. OR you can write the company a letter tell them they are harrassing you and to stop calling, if you do this it would be illegal for them to call you per the FTC. If they call after you write a letter, you could seek damanges in a court.

Answer 7

Hi,

This is the way debt collection works, though if they threaten you, it can be called harassment.

You can opt for debt consolidation if you are unable to pay your debts in time. A nice resource to know more about debt consolidation is:

http://freewebs.com/debcons/debtcons.html

Answer 8

It is not harrassment. They can call you everyday....but you don't have to answer. Nor do you have to do a check by phone. I would send in the payment as you normally do.

Answer 9

They can't MAKE you pay. You did the right thing.

Debt collectors that call you get paid for each debtor they get money from, so they are also trying to make their own money while trying to get yours. That's why they are pushy like some salespeople; they'll make money off of you if they get you to pay.

Answer 10

They suck and that was pretty stiff; and pretty typical.

Good move. DON'T send them a post-dated check or money you don't have. They should agree to accept the payment when you agree to make it; especially by phone.