Creditor harassment occurs when debt collectors illegally attempt to collect debts. Debtors should educate themselves on their legal rights and consider consulting an attorney for advice. Laws protect debtors from harassment, and victims may be eligible to sue for damages or file a consumer complaint.
Creditor harassment can occur when bill collectors attempt to collect debts illegally. There are certain legal procedures that these collection agents must follow when acting on behalf of creditors, and going overboard is generally considered harassment. Common examples may include harassing phone calls, threatening letters, or other forms of unwanted communication. Some debtors may take legal action against creditors for illegal debt collection practices. To effectively deal with creditor harassment, a person should educate themselves about their legal rights and consider consulting an attorney for advice.
Creditors and their agents have the right to try to collect debts, but they can only do so according to certain rules. Abuse of that right may constitute harassment. For example, bill collectors often call people’s homes and workplaces when trying to collect debts. They may use obscenities during conversation, or may threaten the debtor with arrest, property damage, or some other form of personal injury. In addition to making harassing statements in a collection letter, a bill collector may include demeaning information on the mailing envelope, such as the use of the word collection in the return address.
Several countries have laws in place to protect the rights of debtors. In the United States, a federal law called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act provides certain legal remedies to victims of creditor harassment. Most phone calls and letters are considered harassment unless they contain an explicit statement about your purpose to collect debts on behalf of a particular creditor.
Creditor harassment also includes making false statements, such as a bill collector threatening to sue when they really don’t mean to. You also are not allowed to make threatening or inflammatory statements, such as threatening to contact the debtor’s employer. In general, creditors do not have the legal right to inform a third party of your debt. Your communications, including mailing envelopes, are not supposed to humiliate or intimidate debtors.
Many states in the United States also have state creditor harassment laws. One option for dealing with bullying is to consult an attorney for advice. A lawyer may recommend sending a letter to the creditor or collection agent, requesting that they cease all contact with the debtor. In some cases, a debtor may be eligible to sue the creditor for damages. In states where it is legal to record a bill collector’s phone call without the bill collector’s knowledge, debtors can obtain proof of harassment and file a consumer complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Another option is to settle the debt with the creditor. In most cases, victims are advised to document all phone calls and save all written communications.
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