There are few things more annoying than unbridled collection attempts from very rude and aggressive collectiong companies. In far too many cases they cross over the line, and there is indeed a line in place. It was drawn through the passage of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This piece of legislation spells out the rules with regard to fair debt collection practices, and you should understand your rights if you are under siege by collection agencies.
First of all, to address the specific question that serves as the title of this blog post, collection agents may not contact you at your place of employment IF they have been made aware of the fact that you are not allowed to receive these calls. You must tell them to not call you at work. You also have rights when it comes to the times of day that collection agencies are allowed to contact you. Generally speaking, they can only try to get in touch with you between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 o’clock in the evening. However, if you work unusual hours and they know it, they would be required to adjust their actions accordingly.
Collection agencies are not allowed to threaten you in any way, and they cannot publish your name on any type of lists that are meant to embarrass you or diminish your reputation. Additionally, collection companies are not allowed to call you repeatedly, and they are breaking the law if they use foul or abusive language when they are speaking with you.
These are all important and useful provisions for debtors, but there is one section of the law that may be the most valuable of all. If you send a collection agency a cease and desist letter demanding that they stop contacting you, they are required to comply. The only contact they can make after that time is to serve you with a lawsuit.
Lastly, if they know you have hired an attorney, they can only discuss your debt with the attorney and the must leave you alone.
Retain a Bankruptcy Attorney!
As you can see, there are many restrictions placed on collection agencies by the federal government. Again, if you have a lawyer representing you, collectors will be required to contact your attorney, so you wouldn’t have to deal with them at all. In addition, when they know you have an attorney, they know you have the ability to sue them for violating the FACPA, We have offices in many different cities in Oregon, including Coos Bay, Klamath Falls, Bend, and Portland, and we would be glad to provide you with a free initial consultation. You can set the wheels in motion if you call us right now at 800-682-9568.
