Can Creditors Legally Call You at Work?

Owing a creditor or debt collection agency money can begin a cycle of endless telephone calls and debt collection letters. Creditors may call your home, cellular phone and place of business. However, you have the right to place limits on where a creditor or debt collector can call you.

Personal Information

When completing an application for a credit card or loan, you likely revealed personal information about yourself, such as your address, home telephone number, employer name and work number. Creditors keep this information on file, and if you default on a payment, creditors can pull your personal information and use the telephone numbers listed on your application to recover unpaid balances. This can result in a creditor calling or leaving messages at your place of employment.

Stopping Work Calls

Legally, creditors can call you at work to discuss a past due debt. However, creditors cannot divulge your personal financial information to your boss or co-workers. Having the legal right to call you at work does not give creditors or debt collectors the license to harass you throughout the workday. In fact, you can stop all communication at your place of business by requesting that creditors or collectors stop calling you at your work place. You can submit your request over the phone. To have a record of the request, submit your "do not call" letter by certified mail and keep a copy for your personal records. This method can also stop harassing calls made to your personal phone.

Alternatives

Asking a creditor or debt collector to stop calling your work does not make the debt disappear. If you owe the money, creditors and collectors can continue to send collection letters and even file a lawsuit against you. Stopping telephone communication isn't the solution. Facing and remedying the debt is the only way to stop creditors and collectors from pursuing you. You can ask for written confirmation of a debt if you feel the creditor has contacted you in error. Creditors and collectors who cannot supply proof that the debt is valid must cease all collection attempts. Another option is to acknowledge legitimate debt and take steps to satisfy the balance.

Considerations

Familiarizing yourself with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act can decrease ongoing abuse by a creditor or debt collector. Regardless of whether you owe a debt, creditors and collectors are banned from certain actions. For example, creditors and collectors cannot use profanity over the phone, harass debtors, misrepresent themselves or threaten a debtor with arrest, bank seizure or wage garnishment unless they have a legal right to perform those actions and intend to do so. Debtors should keep a record of abusive tactics and report creditors or collectors to the Federal Trade Commission.