Debt Collection Process

Debt collection company?

Do you know the process a debt collection company takes?

Public Comments

1. In England, they will send you letters asking you to pay the full amount or pay by installments. If you dont, they can send a debt collector to your door and demand payment. Failing that, they may take you to court and get their money that way. In Scotland, they cannot POIND(sell your goods) so my advice is, if you are in debt.....go to Scotland.
2. well they ccccccan try harrassing you on your job not allowed,and they try calling your neighbours,they yell and berate you as if it were their own porsonal money.won't listen to any afforable payment arrangements and basically call you daily several times a day....hang up..hang up....hang up....if you need to do the bankruptcy thing..then they will be notified and they are no longer allowed to contact you....the harrassment can go on for months.tell them not to contact you at work and if they persist you can charge them...get new unlisted # at home ,and decide how you;ll remedy the debt.you don't HAVE to listen to them abuse you on the phone hang up each time...I swear one guy was going in to work early just to get me at home at 7.30 am!!that also not allowed...he loved his job...solved now .but they can sure be abusive..........
3. A debt collection agency is trying to collect money you took from someone else and then never repaid. Basically, they are trying to keep you from stealing. So all these comments about how bad debt collectors are, are rubbish. You took the money and never repaid it. (You being the object of debt collection) In the US there are severe limits on when and where debt collectors can call you. These limits do not limit the original lender. They can call you anywhere, any time. Harrassment is not legal by either. All debt collectors try to collect as easily and simply as possible. If you agree to pay the debt, work out a plan and stick to it, there shouldn't be a problem.
4. In the US it is regulated: Too long to copy: info at website http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm
5. They are hired by a company to collect money from you that the first company thinks you owe. Here's the thing, I've been sent to collections twice in error because of faulty record keeping on the part of the company that hired them. Remember the collections company is a middle-man, they only have what records company #1 gave them. They don't really know the whole story. If you do know that you owe the money, then you can either pay, or work with your collections agent to settle a smaller amount, or a payment plan. If it looks a little fishy, like you don't think you really owe the money send the collections company an official letter of dispute (at least asking for time to look through your own bank records). This is your time to look up bank records, contracts, state laws, any info you can to show that you don't owe anything. The first time I got sent to collections, all I had to do was call the apartment complex to show proof I had moved out before those months of utilities were used, the second time, the one I'm working on right now, I had to request what records they had, and now I know they're missing info on checks I've paid, and I've just ordered copies of these checks from my bank - and that should clear everything just fine. No matter what, respond to the company in writing - if you just ignore them, it will mess with your credit pretty badly.