Stop Debt Collector Abuse

Do you have debt collectors calling you? Do you want them to STOP! Are they calling you during dinnertime, at work? You know you owe them but you don’t have money to pay them?
Lets see what the Federal Trade Commission has to say about the harassment from debt collectors. Here are the laws taken directly from the Fair Debt Practices Collection Act

Acquisition of location information section 804:

Any debt collector communicating with any person other than the consumer for the purpose of acquiring location information about the consumer shall --

(1) Identify himself, state that he is confirming or correcting location information concerning the consumer, and, only if expressly requested, identify his employer.
This means if you ask where he or she is calling from they must state the company name.

(2) Not state that such consumer owes any debt.
He or she cannot states this is Mr./Ms. debt collector and I am calling because Joe/Jane owes XYZ Company a $1000.00 do you know how they are going to pay?

(3) Not communicate with any such person more than once unless requested to do so by such person or unless the debt collector reasonably believes that the earlier response of such person is erroneous or incomplete and that such person now has correct or complete location information.
Mr./Ms. debt collector cannot keeping calling your friends or family once they have told them I don’t know where the debtor is, unless family member states I’ll let the debtor know you called, now the collector can call back and say did you give the debtor my message. If your friend or family does not want the collector to call again just ask them not to call, say he/she does not live here, please don’t call again.

(4) After the debt collector knows the consumer is represented by an attorney with regard to the subject debt and has knowledge of, or can readily ascertain such attorney's name and address. Not communicate with any person other than that attorney, unless the attorney fails to respond within a reasonable period of time to the communication from the debt collector.
This means if you have an attorney and the attorney does not call back say within 30 days the debt collector can contact you again, to let you know they have not had contact with your attorney and to see how the bill will be paid.