Debt Collectors

You can stop debt collectors from unfair or deceptive collecting in two ways that are provided in The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  It doesn’t even have to be related to identity theft.  Here is the guide to help you resolve unfair debt collecting:

1. Write a letter to the collection agency telling them to stop, which will not allow them to contact you anymore except under two conditions.  One is to respond and let you know that they will not be contacting you again, or two is to let you know they will be taking some sort of specific action.

2. Write a letter to the collection agency within 30 days of you finding out you went into debt and tell them you are not responsible for the debt, and you do not owe them.

3. Provide whatever evidence you have that the debt is not yours, including a copy of a police report.  If you send evidence that you are not in debt, the collector cannot continue their attempts to collect unless they are able to send you proof that you are in debt.

4. If you don’t have any evidence, you can ask the debt collector to send you their evidence, which you can use to prove against them like a copy of your alleged signature.

5. Once you stop the debt collector, you need to contact the company that originally started the dispute and straighten out the problem or else they will find another collector.

Be as specific as you can when you communicate with a debt collector.  Let them know exactly why they’re wrong, and logically lay out a systematic thought flow to disprove their erroneous charges. This will help repair your credit.

Debt collectors often work for another company, which is the one you initially owe money.  Once you alert the debt collector that the debt is fraudulent, they will contact the company they are collecting for to notify them of this fraud.  However, the company has no obligations to stop collecting without being personally contacted by you. 

Make sure that your bases are covered, and everyone involved is notified of this fraud and that they have a thorough explanation including evidence.  Once all these steps are taken, and the issue is resolved, there are very few if any repercussions.  Continue to always keep the evidence compiled for this dispute in case anyone was to ever raise a question about this issue.