Hi, I was laid off from my job about four months ago, ever since then I have been struggling with debt. One of my debts has been handed over to a debt collection agency and I recieve about thirty phone calls a day from them, asking for the money I owe. I have told them my situation and that I would be more than happy to pay them back as soon as I find work, yet they still keep calling all day, every day.
On top of that, I recieve about five letters a day, all from the same company, all of them say the same thing.
Is this harassment? Is there anything I can do about it?
Can I take a debt collection agency to court for harassment?
it is not harassment as defined by UK law there is not a lot you can do about it.
obviously you have not made any arrangements to pay at least something each week or month.
offer them say £5 a month and if they refuse this offer then continue to pester you WITH PHONE CALLS THEN IT IS HARRASSMENT CONTACT THE POLICE THEY ARE BOUND BY LAW TO INVESTIGATE
Reply:Tell the company that any communication must be made in writing and verbal communication will not be entered into.
Tell them that your telephone number is for a private residential address and that you withdraw permission for them to call it.
Contact the CCCS - Consumer Credit Counciling Service.
They are a charity and will negotiate on yuor behalf with creditors to affange a temporary payment plan.
Do not borrow to repay existing debts.
Reply:In theory yes, but it is unlikely to stop them. When they phone you next come to some arrangement with them £1.00 a week.
Reply:nope sucks but you cant..... they only thing is they are not allowed to call you at work...... im in that boat with you right now.... mortgage industry is killing me
Reply:Yes offer them something...even a pound at least you have made a gesture. Meanwhile contact the CAB (Citizens advice bureau) as they can help by talking to the people you owe money to and arrange by mutual consent an amount that you can afford to pay back each week. Take any paperwork you may have when you go and see them. Also I think you will find that they open at 10.00am and close at 3.00pm
Monday to Friday....free advice!
The worst thing you can do is to ignore them as they will hound you forevermore if you do.
I hope things get sorted soon but you need to be proactive by helping the process along.
Reply:I have been there and they are not allowed to harrass you in this way, I went to citizens advice and they gave me a pack with letters I could write to the creditors and other things to do like say you will pay a certain amount a month even it's a pound say it's all you can afford they have to accept it because you are showing willing to pay it back and then they won't harrass you. from what I remember there was part of the letter that you send to creditiors to show your income and expenses I just made my food bill etc higher on it and I ended up being allowed to pay 2 pound a month as they cold see that's all i could afford
Reply:§ 806. Harassment or abuse [15 USC 1692d]
A debt collector may not engage in any conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person in connection with the collection of a debt. Without limiting the general application of the foregoing, the following conduct is a violation of this section:
(1) The use or threat of use of violence or other criminal means to harm the physical person, reputation, or property of any person.
(2) The use of obscene or profane language or language the natural consequence of which is to abuse the hearer or reader.
(3) The publication of a list of consumers who allegedly refuse to pay debts, except to a consumer reporting agency or to persons meeting the requirements of section 603(f) or 604(3)1 of this Act.
(4) The advertisement for sale of any debt to coerce payment of the debt.
(5) Causing a telephone to ring or engaging any person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any person at the called number.
(6) Except as provided in section 804, the placement of telephone calls without meaningful disclosure of the caller's identity.
INfo here
(Sorry for trying to help here Paul; the question string doesn't indicate a country and neither does the post; and the majority of the questions asked are US based. )
Reply:Get an answerphone. They are doing their job.
Have you tried coming to an arrangement with them?
Additional to wizjp:
The whole world doesn't fall under US laws. Go figure.
Reply:Let's put an end to the competition here. WHERE is this happening (in what country)?
Reply:this is the U.S....you can sue anybody for anything. however you have to find an attorney who is willing to represent you. also i believe you should check with a bankruptcy attorney because i think there is something you can enact to put a stop-call against debtors if you are in a bad situation and working to restructuring your debt (but not neccessarily filing full-fledge bankruptcy) - my friend did something like this. and the other rule is that they can't call you after 9pm or before 8am so if they do then you definitely have harrassment suit.
Reply:Go to your local C.A.B debt collectors are regulated and have to abide by rules and the guidelines layed down by the regulator.
Reply:YES - this is blatant harrassment - please - name the company!!!
Harrassment is a Criminal Offence, not Civil, therefore go to your local Police Station and file a formal complaint.
All the best to you - keep in touch.
Reply:To be afforded protection under the "Fair Debt Collection Practices Act," you must first meet certain requirements. (1) You must be a "consumer," and (2) the debt must be "consumer debt." A consumer is "any natural person obligated or allegedly obligated to pay any debt." Consumer debt is defined as "any obligation. . . of a consumer to pay money arising out of a transaction in which money, property, insurance, or services which are the subject of the transaction are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, whether or not such obligation has been reduced to judgment."
A debt collector is defined as "any person . . . the principal interest of which is to collect any debts, or who regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debt owed or due, or asserted to be owed or due to another." While there are some exemptions in the statute, this broad definition covers the majority of collectors, including collection agencies and attorneys.
If you are contacted by a debt collector concerning a consumer debt, there are some specific statutory requirements that the collector must follow. For example, within five days of the initial communication with the consumer, a debt collector must advise the debtor in writing of: (1) The amount of debt; and (2) the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed.
You have 30 days from the receipt of the notice to dispute the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, in writing, or the debt collector may assume the validity of the debt. If a consumer properly disputes the debt within the 30-day period, the collector must obtain verification of the debt and mail it to the consumer. Additionally, within the 30-day period, the debt collector must provide the consumer with the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor. Failure to send this notice in a timely manner can result in a violation of the Act and subject the collector to sanctions.
Certain types of abusive conduct are prohibited and regulated by the Act:
Communicating with the consumer in connection with collection of any debt at any unusual time or place. In the absence of knowledge of circumstances to the contrary, a creditor shall assume that a convenient time for communicating with a consumer is after 8:00 a.m. and before 9:00 p.m. You should not be receiving phone calls at midnight from your credit card company, or "King-Kong Collection Agency."
Contacting the consumer when the consumer is represented by an attorney, unless the attorney fails to respond within a reasonable period of time to communication from the debt collector, or unless the attorney first consents to direct communication with the consumer. Basically, if you have turned the problem over to your attorney, you should not be receiving phone calls from the collection agency.
Contacting a debtor at work after the collector has been advised not to phone the debtor at his or her place of employment. Once a consumer notifies a collector not to call them at work, further calls are prohibited.
Advising third parties (friends, relatives, employers) of the consumer's debt. A collection agency should not be defaming a consumer to third parties.
Harassing, oppressive, or abusive behavior. This is a broad category, and subject to broad interpretation.
Threatening criminal acts or violence. If a collector threatens to perform "impromptu dental surgery," rest assured that he is in violation of the Act.
Using profanity, obscenities, and/or abusive language.
Placing continuous phone calls intended to harass, annoy or abuse the consumer. At least one court has held that a collector immediately calling the debtor after debtor hung up the phone, constituted harassment.
Failure to identify oneself as a debt collector. Collectors may use a Adesk name@ to protect themselves individually, but they must disclose the name of their employer and the nature of the business.
Making deceptive, false or misleading misrepresentations. For example, mass-produced collection letters not reviewed by an attorney prior to mailing are considered false and deceptive.
Implying or stating that the collector is affiliated or connected with the government; falsely representing the character, amount or legal status of the debt. For instance, a collector cannot falsely represent himself as an IRS agent to frighten the consumer into paying the debt. (Please note that if it is IRS debt, it is probably not a consumer debt and not protected by the Act.)
Falsely implying the communication comes from an attorney or that a person is an attorney.
Threatening to send out false credit information.
Using language or symbols on envelopes that indicate that it is from a collection agency. (This includes sending postcards.)
If your life has been made more difficult by bill collectors utilizing unfair practices, keep in mind that you have rights that protect you from abusive or harassing collection behavior. Not only should you be able to stop some of the behaviors outlined above, but you may also be able to collect money damages from the collector for willful and repeated violations. The federal act allows for a recovery of $1,000 or actual damages and the state act allows for a $500 recovery or actual damages. Plaintiffs of successful lawsuits are often entitled to recover costs and reasonable attorneys= fees. In some circumstances, punitive damages are also recoverable.
Often, simply advising the collector that you are aware of the act and your rights under it will stop the harassment. If it doesn=t, you may want to save the messages and letters and keep a log in case you need to utilize the federal and state protections.
a person on yahoo...Help me...gave me this info..so if this is a good answer and he answers to ...should be his points..
THANKS HELP ME!
Reply:If you are in the United States, debt collection practices are regulated by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Click on the link below and read through section 806.
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdc...
I think you may be able to make a case that 30 phone calls a day violates paragraph (5) of that section which states:
"Causing a telephone to ring or engaging any person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any person at the called number. "
A collection agency does not need to contact you 30 times a day to ascertain that you are still unemployed and still unable to make your payment. If I were a judge, I would not consider 30 phone calls a day "reasonable". I can see no purpose for that many calls other than to "annoy, abuse, or harass" you.
If you want to pursue this, you are going to need to be able to prove that the collection agency is making so many calls each day. My suggestion would be to keep a log of all incoming calls with the date, the time, the name of the person who called you, what they said to you, what you said to them and the duration of the call. It might be a good idea for you to get a tape recorder and record the calls -- before you start recording though, always advise the person you are talking to that you are going to record the conversation. You should also tell the person that you consider the number of calls per day to be a violation of the Debt Collection Practices Act and that you will be using the recordings as evidence. In all likelihood, the person calling you will tell you that you don't need to record the conversation because they are -- tell them you understand that but you want you own record and the judge will then have two versions of the calls to listen to.
You should also consider seeing an attorney about filing a bankruptcy action. Once you have filed bankruptcy, the collection agencies must cease their collection activities.
Filing bankruptcy also doesn't mean that you can't pay the debt at a later date. It will just give you some relief from the collection agency.
Reply:If you are a UK resident and you feel the debt collectors are harassing you then this could be seen as a possible breach of the Administration of Justice Act 1970. The AJA makes it a possible criminal offence if a debt collector is behaving in a threatening or harassing manner.
Contact your local Trading Standards Department and report the debt collection agency for this offence. You can claim compensation for agro and inconvenience but this would be up to a judge on the amount awarded and both parties need to remain reasonable when claiming such damages.
If you need help to manage your debt you can contact the National Debt Line on 0808 808 4000 who offer free and confidential advice.
Reply:You can take them to court if they call you after 8pm and before 8or 9am.
also if they call on weekends. But record everything. And if you tell them to stop calling you and they don't[you have to tell them to stop calling this number or at your work]then there are laws for all of that , what I just told you.Plus you can pay them $5.00 amonth and then they have to stop bothering you, as long as they are receiving something they don't care and can't do anything. Plus there are allot of free agencies that can set up payment plans for free for you and they contact the collection agency and you don't have to talk to them. Hope this helps it helped others.
Reply:You can take them to court but it has to be proved harrassment.
the best option is to contact them and make arrangements to pay them an affordable fee.
they will leave you alone if they are receiving something, rather than nothing.
go to CAB who will advise you accordingly. debt collectors just increase the pressure you are under and i don't know how they get away with it sometimes.
i had the same thing a few years ago, over £7.50 which i ran up for not taking two DVD's back to the video shop. I saw the funny side at first but it gave me an insight into how harrassing they can be, they were really persistant and nasty.
Get some legal advise fast, and look at your options.
Reply:Go to CAB and speak to them they can advise you what to do. You need to sort it, write a letter to them offering the minimum payment that you can afford even if it's 50p a week, just make the offer, it shows you are are willing to attempt to pay, they may not accept it but at least then if it go's further you have written proof you have made an offer.
Also every letter they send out they put an admin charge on. Basically debt collection companies are a bunch of w***k**s!! I think anyone that works as a baliff or for a debt collection agency must just be nasty pieces of work, these sort of people enjoy chasing people for money and nine times out of ten they are complete A holes, who are rude and obnoxious, they don't care about peoples situation's or why they may be in debt, all they care about is getting the money, and in the process making more money out of someone that can't afford to pay anyway by adding charges, it's a vicious circle. A friend of mine was hounded by a baliff, she was depressed anyway but this made it worse the baliff was really nasty ( he suggested she pay in another way (i.e sexually) she ended up trying to kill herself and was sectioned. A complaint was made but sod all was done!!!!
I think the government need to look into the way Baliffs work, no matter what the debt is for council tax, car hp etc Also I think they should make the debt collection companies have a minimum admin charge for the letter they send out and that they should not exceed it (i.e) the average charge is about £25 a letter, I think they should not be allowed to go over £5.00. These people need to be monitored.
Just because people have debt does not mean they are bad people, in fact sometimes it's the opposite.
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