Collection agents who use harassment techniques to collect debts, such as calling before 8am or after 9pm, threatening or lying to the debtor, discussing debts with others, and repeatedly calling in a short period of time, are guilty of collection harassment. Contacting a debtor’s attorney or spouse is allowed, but calling them at work or discussing debts with others is considered harassment.
Unfortunately, some collection agents use harassment techniques to collect debts. Some forms of collection harassment include calling a debtor before 8am or after 9pm. Threatening a debtor or using lies to get them to pay also counts as harassment. Similarly, discussing a person’s debts with their boss, friends, or coworkers is also considered harassment. Also, a collection agent harasses a debtor if she calls him repeatedly in a short period of time or calls him at work despite an employer’s rule against employee phone calls.
Calling a debtor very early in the morning or very late at night is a type of collection harassment. In many jurisdictions, collection agents are not permitted to contact debtors by phone before 8am or after 8am. Calling a debtor’s home between 9am and 9pm is generally considered reasonable. Indeed, creditors and collection agents usually have the right to call during these hours, even on weekends. If the debtor agrees to allow a collection agent to contact him early in the morning or after 10 pm, such calls are not considered harassment.
A collection representative may also be guilty of collection harassment if he threatens a debtor or makes misleading statements during a collection attempt. For example, if a collection agent tells a debtor that he will show up at his door and embarrass him in front of his neighbors unless he pays off a debt, this is considered collection harassment. The same goes for misleading statements. For example, a common harassment tactic is to tell a debtor that he will go to jail unless he pays off a debt. In most countries, prison is not used as a punishment for not paying one’s debts.
Discussing one party’s debts with others is also considered a type of collection harassment. In most jurisdictions, collection agents have the right to contact a debtor’s attorney to discuss a debt. A collection agent can also talk to one party’s spouse without getting into legal trouble. If you contact other parties about a debtor, you usually need to do so for the purpose of learning where a debtor lives or works. If a collection agent discusses the debt with someone who is not the debtor’s spouse or attorney, it is usually a matter of harassment.
Repeatedly calling a debtor can also be considered collection harassment. For example, calling a debtor multiple times in an hour may be considered harassment. Similarly, a collection agent may be guilty of collection harassment if he calls a debtor at work even though he knows that the debtor is not authorized to receive telephone calls at his or her place of work.
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