Crash Course in Collection

Dealing with collection agencies and running your payment methods by their rules can be pretty stressful; but remember, as consumers you have your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Act and with this rule, you can learn worthwhile tricks!

Usually the first step in debt collection by the collection agency is that they’ll send you a letter that will explain your situation to you. It is imperative for you to immediately read this letter and understand it thoroughly because you have only 30 days to dispute the facts in this letter if they don’t seem true. If you genuinely feel that some fact is incorrect or that a piece of information has been misquoted, you need to contact your creditors and debt collection agency immediately to rectify the error. It is also a good idea for you to keep a copy of the communication you have with your creditor and the debt collection agency.

Another important advice is to carefully review and regularly keep track of your record that appears on your credit report. This report keeps the record of your collection and remains there for seven years from the last 180-day late payment of the original account irrespective of you paying the debt back or not. If your original account is also on your report, both will remain available for seven years. Review this information carefully since there is a tendency for collection agencies to report inaccurate information on this report.

As far as the Fair Debt Collection Act is concerned, the debt collection agency is supposed to treat you in a certain manner and if they fail to do so, you can seek your rights in court. For instance, you can request the collector not to contact you or to contact you only via a specific manner (by mail or email). Also, you should know that the debt collection agency cannot threaten you in any way or use obscene language with you. Understand this act completely and make sure your rights are not being violated in any way.

Now that you understand this, you need to consider your options. If you have debts that need to be paid, make sure you pay them off first in order to maintain your credit report. Plus it does not make sense to hurry yourself in paying the collection debt before you are comfortable enough to do so.

Often the collectors are ready to negotiate a much lower settlement so you should contact them to see if you can negotiate something. Also ask the collector to send you the terms for your settlement in writing since this can come in handy for you in the future.

Debt collection is pretty common since the agency buys a pretty wide variety of debts; make sure you pay a debt that is in danger of being sold to collectors to prevent damage to your credit report. Last but not least, track your bills carefully and make sure you let the agency know your current address when you make a move. Playing all your cards right can make the debt collection process by a debt collection agency much easier for yourself.

Author Bio

Richard Jacobs is a chief editor since early 2007, and he currently works for MyDUIAttorney. A website that helps you to find the right DUI lawyer, you can search for a New Jersey DWI Lawyer or for Maryland DUI Attorney online, anytime!