What Collection Agencies Don’t Want You To Know

Posted by Declan Disney | Posted in Bad Credits | Posted on 21-09-2011

There are only a few things worse than getting a call from a collection agency demanding that you repay some kind of owed debt. For many people, the immediate reaction would be one of embarrassment, soon followed by either aggravation, or the need to settle the matter right away. Most collection agencies would like you to pay whatever it is that they ask as soon as possible so as to give you little time to think about the situation at hand. It is their hope that you will be caught off guard by the call, and will provide any and all information that they request without considering your rights in such a case. For these agencies, the less you know, the better. Whether you’ve dealt with collection agencies in the past or not, it is important that you know your rights, and have a good understanding of all the things that they don’t want you to know. By considering the following data points, you’ll increase your knowledge regarding interactions with debt collectors, and will be able to avoid stress, and also save yourself time and money.

You don’t really need to make a big initial payment

Most collection agencies will insist that you make a big immediate payment to rectify your unpaid debts. They will come up with a wide variety of reasons as to why you must pay a large down payment against your debt in order to pressure you to do so. Such reasons may include preventing even greater fees in the future, or that the agency’s manager requires a large payment in order to go about the process of eliminating the debt from record. While these debt collectors may seem very convincing, the truth is that you don’t need to make a huge upfront payment unless you want to help pad the agent’s commission check for the month. As you can probably now guess, most debt collectors are paid through commissions on the size of the down payments that they receive from the people that they contact.

You can break off communication with collection agencies.

Over the years, people have tried all sorts of tactics to avoid calls from collection agencies. Fortunately, there is now a federal law that states that if you request in writing for a collection agency to no longer contact you, the agency must abide by your request. In fact, if they ignore your request, and do continue to contact you, then you can sue them for a substantial amount of money as outlined in the law. It is important to clarify, however, that requesting a cease in contact does not eliminate the debt that must still be paid. The request simply gives you the opportunity to pay off the debt without harassing phone calls coming in on a consistent basis.

There is no such thing as a payment deadline

Many debt collectors will insist that you pay your debt within a certain timeframe. Some may even go as far as making threats of potential repercussions that may result in not paying the debt before the so-called deadline. The truth is that all the talk of a deadline is entirely fabricated, and is actually used as a scare tactic to coax you into paying the debt as quickly as possible. The debt collectors know that their best bet to collect the full amount owed is to make sure it is paid in a very timely fashion. The longer that they have to wait to receive full payment for the debt, the less likely it is that debt will actually be completely paid.

Their threats are exaggerated

The debt collector will want you to react to their call in fear; as such an emotion may drive you to pay your debt sooner than later. In order to scare you into making a larger payment, or even paying your debt in full, a debt collector may make exaggerated threats. They may threaten to destroy your credit score, or even cease all of your possessions. While these threats may seem scary, the truth is that the collection agency can’t really act upon them. The threat to your credit score is often made with the hope that you haven’t taken the time out to check it periodically on your own. If a collection agency is calling you, that means that your credit score is already severely damaged, and there is little to nothing that they can do to damage it even more than it already is. With respect to repossessing your possessions, such an action is illegal in many states, and is actually more costly than it is worth for the collection agency.

A debt collector must disclose his or her identity

If you receive a phone call from a debt collector, they must immediately provide full disclosure as to their identity. They absolutely cannot call you anonymously so as to make it impossible for you to avoid their calls. In fact, if they fail to fully disclose their identity when they contact you, you then may have justifiable grounds to sue the collection agency for a nice amount of money.

Conclusion

Collection agencies often act on the premise that the less the debtor knows, the better. They are in business to get your money, and will do whatever it takes to make that happen. Many people fall into their traps, causing them to pay unnecessary fees, and deal with harassing phone calls because they aren’t aware of their rights. By knowing all the things that collection agencies don’t want you to know, you’ll be prepared to best handle their phone call.  If you are interested in settling these debts check out my CuraDebt review.

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