Debt collectors are honest businessmen, who are only doing their job of collecting the money that a delinquent owes to a creditor. But sometimes, their line of work makes them come across as rude and obnoxious. And sometimes some collectors abuse their power and ruin the reputation of all other honest collectors. Also, some scammers pretend to be a collector to take money from you.
As a delinquent, you need to be on top of this and understand your rights. You don’t want to fall prey to a debt collector who is abusing his/her power. To know how honest debt collectors work; visit the website of cedar financial or check cedar financial reviews.
Here are some tips that will help you figure out if your collector is honest or a fraud:
Pretending to work for an agency that is affiliated with the government
The Fair debt collection practice act prohibits all collectors from pretending to be affiliated with any government body. They are not even allowed to tell people that they work with a consumer reporting firm.
All reputable collection firms follow this rule, and if there is any collector who pretends to be a government agent, is arrested like employees of Williams, Scott & Associates, who pretended to be government employees and accused people of fraud.
A collector cannot say that they will get you arrested
No debt collector has the right to get you arrested. Even if they claim or threaten you that not paying your debt can lead to your arrest, then they are wrong, and you can report them. Not paying your debt or not responding to a collector cannot make you go to jail.
But if you get an order from the court to make an appearance, don’t ignore that, because not going to court when asked can get you arrested.
They cannot disclose your name or humiliate you in public
A collector has no right to disclose about you owing a debt to anyone other than your attorney, spouse, and yourself. They can contact your office or friends and neighbor to track you down, but they cannot reveal the reason to them.
Also, they cannot humiliate you in public about owing a debt, and if they do so, you should report them as this is against the law.
Trying to collect a debt that isn’t yours
A debt collector sometimes has incorrect information, which makes them collect a debt that isn’t yours. If you are not sure about the debt being yours, you can validate your debt by writing a letter to the creditor or collector. The proof you get can help you understand whether the debt is yours or not.
They cannot harass you
A collector cannot harass you. These specific things come under harassment:
Threaten or harm you
Use language which is inappropriate
Call you after you asked them not to. Or call you before 8 in the morning, or after9 in the evening.
Call you at work after you asked them not to.
A debt collector will always work to help the debtor and the creditor. But some collectors can cross the line, or some scammer can pretend to be a collector to collect money from you. To keep yourself safe, you need to know your rights.
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