Call 4 Action: Your Rights Against Aggressive Debt Collectors

POSTED: 4:04 pm EDT August 18, 2008
UPDATED: 4:14 pm EDT August 18, 2008

PITTSBURGH -- Debt collectors have the right to keep calling people who owe money, but they're not allowed to harass anyone, and the use of certain bullying tactics is also restricted.

Kristen Garrett, of Advantage Credit Counseling Service, told Call 4 Action reporter Aaron Saykin that collectors "are getting very aggressive" about going after debts.

"But there is 'aggressive' in the legal parameters, and then there is 'aggressive' in the ways that are illegal to go after them," Garrett said.

According to the Better Business Bureau, complaints about debt collector harassment increased 26 percent last year.

They're even calling neighbors, as Greg Hartman, of Penn Hills, found out last year.

"She made it sound like they were best friends with my neighbor, that they were close and there was something wrong and she needed to reach my neighbor," Hartman said.

That practice is usually legal, but debt collectors have limits -- and you have rights.

They cannot call before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
They can't bother you at work if you tell them that your employer does not approve of those calls.
They cannot misrepresent whom they work for.
They cannot threaten to garnish your wages.
They cannot tell you that you will be arrested.
They cannot threaten to sue, unless they intend to.

If debt collectors keep calling you, "don't ignore it," Garrett said. "That's the worst thing you can do because it will not go away."

Instead, send them a letter ordering them to stop calling. Your debt won't go away, but at least you'll be able to pick up the phone in peace.

It's not uncommon for debt collectors to mistakenly contact somebody about a debt they don't owe. If that happens, notify them in writing within 30 days.

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