The Fair Debts Collection Practices Act sets guidelines about what debt collectors can and cannot do.
You need to know the rules so you know when they have been broken.
If you have the unfortunate opportunity to deal with a debt collector, you need to know what your rights are and know the best and most effective way of dealing with one.
Debt collectors can call you on your home phone during business hours.
They can call you until you tell them, in writing, to stop.
Once you have given them written instructions to stop calling you, that does not erase the debt, but it will stop the phone calls.
Debt collectors cannot threaten you with bodily harm.
They cannot misrepresent themselves as being associated with the government or with a credit reporting agency.
If you must deal with a debt collector, never assume that they will play fair or that they have your best interests at heart.
They won't, and they don't.
Do not ever send post-dated checks, and never give a debt collector the right to draft payments from your bank account.
These things can end up costing you more money and more trouble than you already have.
When you are negotiating with a debt collector, remember that you are dealing with a person who has been well schooled in the art of negotiation.
They know more about it than you do.
Never give a debt collector personal information like where you work, what your income is, or your bank account information.
They do not have the right to even ask you these questions.
If they do, and you let them know that you are informed about the law, it will strengthen your position.
Nothing that you do when you are dealing with a debt collector will erase the debt.
But knowing the law, and knowing what to say and what not to say, can keep you from more grief.