If you miss a credit card payment, you can expect to hear quickly from someone in a collections department. Credit cards are unsecured debt, and the only way that creditors have to make you pay is to contact you aggressively to elicit an emotional response, or to threaten you with negative reporting on your credit report. Here are some questions and answers about the collections process.
What Laws Protect Me as a Credit Cardholder?
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is the name of the law that says what collectors can and can't do to collect a debt. It outlines several rights that borrowers and creditors have, as well as the penalties that can be assessed if the law is not followed.
When and Where Can a Creditor Contact Me?
A creditor can only call you after 8 a.m. and before 9 p.m., unless you tell them that they can call you at other times. A creditor cannot call you at work if you have told the creditor that personal calls at your workplace are not allowed.
How Do I Make a Creditor Stop Calling Me?
You can tell a creditor that it cannot contact you any more. You may do this orally, but you should put it in writing, and mail it to the creditor via certified mail with a return receipt. After this, the creditor may only contact you to say that it will not be contacting you any more, or to tell you about a specific action, such as a lawsuit.
What If I Get Called About a Bill I Do not Owe?
You can send the collector a letter, certified with return receipt, saying that you need proof that you owe the bill. Tell the collector that if it cannot provide you with proof, it must stop contacting you. The law provides penalties for collectors who continue to contact you after you have told them not to do so.
What Can I Do if a Collector Continues to Contact Me?
If a collector continues to contact you about a bill that you do not owe, you may report it to regulators in your state. Usually the state's attorney general's office investigates these claims. You also may contact a lawyer, and sue them in court for damages.
What Do I Do if a Credit Card Company Is Filing a Lawsuit Against Me?
Don't panic. If you have not received an official court summons with a court date you are not being sued yet. Credit card collectors often threaten lawsuits to get an emotional response to make people pay a bill. Most people do not like court, and will do what they can to avoid it. If you do receive a court summons, be certain to follow the instructions on it for answering the lawsuit. If you do not respond, you could lose the lawsuit by default. Even if a creditor receives a judgment in court, it still needs to act on it to try to get money from you. The creditor may also be willing to negotiate with you.
Can a Credit Card Company Garnish my Wages?
If a credit card company wins a lawsuit against you, it can garnish your wages with a court order if you live in a state that allows garnishment. The lawsuit must happen first. If you do not respond to a lawsuit, you may lose your right to fight a garnishment.
What Can't a Collector Do When Contacting Me?
A collector can't use threatening or abusive language towards you. It cannot tell anyone else that they it is trying to contact you because you owe a debt. A collector cannot make false statements or perpetrate false information about you.
Can a Collector Contact Me About a Debt I Discharged in Bankruptcy?
A collector cannot contact you about a debt that is included in a bankruptcy. If the collector does not know about the debt, you must tell it. Once the collector knows, you should not hear from it again. If you do, the collector could face sanctions from the bankruptcy court.
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