Are you tired of creditors calling your house day and night? Are you tired of creditors being rude and asking for a payment every hour on the hour? You can stop it and answer your phone in peace.
A creditor is a company or person that extends "credit" by allowing a consumer to borrow money based on an agreement between the two parties that the money will be paid back at a later time. Creditors provide you with a form (agreement) to fill out that gets approved allowing you to use their credit based on the guidelines of the signed agreement.
If you make just one late payment (usually 30 days or more late), all creditors have a Collection Department that quickly calls to remind you to send a payment (even if the payment is one day past the due date). The first few calls the creditors seem really nice and ask when you will be able to send a payment. Then they quickly turn into the Attila the Hut and start being rude and use all kinds of tactics to get you to make a payment. This is unethical and is illegal according to the Fair Credit and Reporting Act (FCRA) and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) which can be obtained by calling the Federal Trade Commission or going to their website.
The FCRA was instituted in 1996 to ensure the accuracy and fairness of credit reporting for consumers. The FDCPA was instituted in 1996 to stop abusive behavior by creditors. A creditor cannot call you before 8:00 am or after 9:00 pm. Also, creditors cannot use threats, profanity make false statements, use unfair practices, or make repeated calls to your home to collect a debt.
If a creditor contacts you, as a consumer, legally you have the right to ask them to stop by writing a letter indicating that the creditor should not contact you any further to obtain the debt owed. If you feel a creditor has violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act you may file a complaint against them by calling the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP or going to www.ftc.gov to fill out an online complaint.
In the future, if you ever fall behind on your payments and to prevent creditors from harassing you, notify your creditor immediately that you are having financial problems and try to setup a payment plan with them to prevent bad marks on your credit report.
Harrine Freeman is the CEO of H.E. Freeman Enterprises, a credit repair and money management services company.
She is a member of the American Association of Daily Money Managers.
She is a credit repair expert and the author of, "How to Get Out of Debt: Get an "A" Credit Rating for Free Using the System I’ve Used Successfully with Thousands of Clients. For more information on how to get out of debt or to buy my book please visit any major bookstore.
She can be reached at hfreeman@hefreemanenterprises.com
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