How can I stop bill collectors to stop calling every day?

I live on a fixed income and my credit card company raised there minimum payment and I can not pay that high of a payment. They call every day about three to five times a day. I tell them every time what I can pay and when but they still keep calling. How can I stop it?

Maybe looking for vacations that let you live like pioneers is a bad idea when you can't even keep up with your current debt payments.

First you need to keep a recoed of who you are talking with when they call and what was said. YOU have the right to ask them to stop calling you, tell them that you prefer to have them send you notices via mail. If this continues then you need to speek with their suppervisor. Have your notes with you, you will need to make reference to them. You will need to establish a payment agreement with that person, take notes, then you will need to write to you credit card company with all the info, regarding the payment agreement and that they need to notify you ONLY by mail. This usually works.

"Getting Bill Collectors Off Your Back

Here's how to get bill collectors to stop harassing you!

Are you in debtâ€”and avoiding ringing phones, ignoring your mail and only hesitatingly opening the doorâ€”all to steer clear of the dreaded bill collector?

No one likes dealing with these people. But the good news is that the law forbids repeated harassment by bill collectorsâ€”and gives you the right to sue for violations. If you complain loudly enoughâ€”and you've got proof backing you upâ€”you have a chance to get the entire debt canceled.

There are two types of bill collectors. (No, not nasty and even nastier.) Some bill collectors work for the original creditor, the business or person who first extended you credit or loaned you money. Others work for a collection agency, a company hired by an original creditor to collect its debt.

The difference is important. You have much greater legal protection against harassment by debt collectors who work for collection agencies, because they are governed by a federal law called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA.

Tell Them to Stop

Few consumers know that under the FDCPA, you have the right to tell a collection agency employee to bug off. Simply send a letter stating that you want the collection agency to cease all communications with you. All agency employees are then prohibited from contacting you, except to tell you that collection efforts have ended or that the collection agency or original creditor may sue you.
Debt collectors, however, are notorious for breaking the lawâ€”contacting people who have sent a cease-contact letter, or violating other provisions of the FDCPA.

Document Illegal Behavior

To get results, you need proof of the illegal behavior. If phone calls from someone from a collection agency violate the law, try to tape the next harassing phone call you get. In most states, you can tape a conversation without telling the other party, as long as you are a party to the conversation. That's because the law allows you to record any conversation in which at least one party consents to the taping, and you can be the one who consents.

In a dozen states (listed below), however, it's illegal to record a conversation, unless you get the permission of the person to whom you are speaking, or at least warn the person that the conversation may be recorded.

Don't record a conversation without the debt collector's knowledge in:
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Illinois
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Montana
New Hampshire
Pennsylvania
Washington

If you can't tape the conversation, try to get a witness. Have the witness listen on a phone extension while you and the collector talk. Try to get the collector to repeat the earlier illegal statements.

It's illegal for bill collectors to:

Contact third parties, other than an attorney or a credit bureau, except to locate you
Call you repeatedly or contact you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.

Contact you at work if your employer prohibits it
Use or threaten to use violence
Use obscene or profane language
Place telephone calls to you without identifying themselves as bill collectors
Claim you owe more than you do
Claim to be attorneys
Claim that you'll be imprisoned or your property will be seized
Send you a paper that resembles a legal document
Add unauthorized interest, fees or charges

File a Complaint

Once you have the conversation taped or witnessed, you can make an official complaint. The federal agency that oversees collection agencies will send you a complaint form if you ask, or you can simply write a letter. Contact the Federal Trade Commission at 6th and Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580. Include the collection agency's name and address, the name of the collector, the dates and times of the conversations, and the names of any witnesses. Attach copies of all offending materials you received and a copy of any tape you made.
Also, send a copy of your complaint to the state agency that regulates collection agencies for the state where the agency is located. To find the agency, call information in that state's capital city.

Finally, send a copy to the original creditor and the collection agency. The original creditor may be concerned about its own liability and offer to cancel the debt at once.

Once your complaint is filed, don't expect immediate results. The FTC may take steps to sanction the agency if it has other complaints on record. The state agency may move more quickly to sue the collection agency or shut it down for egregious violations. Your best hope is that the creditor will offer to cancel the debt.

Sue the B!@$#&*%

If you've been subject to repeated abusive behavior, consider suing the collection agency. But don't bother if the illegal behavior was annoying but nothing more. For example, if the collector called three times in one day but never again, you probably don't have a case.

You can represent yourself in small claims court, or hire a lawyer and go to regular court. (The other side may have to pay your attorney fees and court costs if you win.) You're entitled to any actual lossesâ€”for example, your pain and suffering, or the amount you paid to switch to an unlisted number to avoid harassmentâ€”and up to $1,000 in punitive damages.

In truly outrageous casesâ€”especially if the abuse inflicted on you was substantial and you have reports from therapists and doctors documenting your sufferingâ€”consider hiring a lawyer to represent you. One Texas jury awarded $11 million to a woman and her husband against both a collection agency and creditor. The collector had called the woman repeatedly at home and work, and made death and bomb threats. She, fearing for her own and her husband's safety, had actually moved out of town. (Driscol v. Allied Adjustment Bureau, Docket #92-7267 (El Paso, TX 1995).)"

Obviously the best way is to pay your bills, but when all else fails you can do two things.

1) When they call tell them you are working on paying off your debt with them and to please not call anymore.

2) When you tell them not to call they may tell you to inform them of your decission not to receive calls in writing. MIght take up to 30 days.

Last thing, If you don't want to get all those BS calls from telemarketers you def want to go to https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx and add your name to it. This is the National Do Not Call Registry. Ok hope this helps, but here's some more;

Tell Them to Stop

Few consumers know that under the FDCPA, you have the right to tell a collection agency employee to bug off. Simply send a letter stating that you want the collection agency to cease all communications with you. All agency employees are then prohibited from contacting you, except to tell you that collection efforts have ended or that the collection agency or original creditor may sue you.
Debt collectors, however, are notorious for breaking the lawâ€”contacting people who have sent a cease-contact letter, or violating other provisions of the FDCPA.

Document Illegal Behavior

To get results, you need proof of the illegal behavior. If phone calls from someone from a collection agency violate the law, try to tape the next harassing phone call you get. In most states, you can tape a conversation without telling the other party, as long as you are a party to the conversation. That's because the law allows you to record any conversation in which at least one party consents to the taping, and you can be the one who consents.

In a dozen states (listed below), however, it's illegal to record a conversation, unless you get the permission of the person to whom you are speaking, or at least warn the person that the conversation may be recorded.

Don't record a conversation without the debt collector's knowledge in:
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Illinois
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Montana
New Hampshire
Pennsylvania
Washington

If you can't tape the conversation, try to get a witness. Have the witness listen on a phone extension while you and the collector talk. Try to get the collector to repeat the earlier illegal statements.

It's illegal for bill collectors to:

Contact third parties, other than an attorney or a credit bureau, except to locate you
Call you repeatedly or contact you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.

Contact you at work if your employer prohibits it
Use or threaten to use violence
Use obscene or profane language
Place telephone calls to you without identifying themselves as bill collectors
Claim you owe more than you do
Claim to be attorneys
Claim that you'll be imprisoned or your property will be seized
Send you a paper that resembles a legal document
Add unauthorized interest, fees or charges

File a Complaint

Once you have the conversation taped or witnessed, you can make an official complaint. The federal agency that oversees collection agencies will send you a complaint form if you ask, or you can simply write a letter. Contact the Federal Trade Commission at 6th and Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580. Include the collection agency's name and address, the name of the collector, the dates and times of the conversations, and the names of any witnesses. Attach copies of all offending materials you received and a copy of any tape you made.
Also, send a copy of your complaint to the state agency that regulates collection agencies for the state where the agency is located. To find the agency, call information in that state's capital city.

Finally, send a copy to the original creditor and the collection agency. The original creditor may be concerned about its own liability and offer to cancel the debt at once.

Once your complaint is filed, don't expect immediate results. The FTC may take steps to sanction the agency if it has other complaints on record. The state agency may move more quickly to sue the collection agency or shut it down for egregious violations. Your best hope is that the creditor will offer to cancel the debt.

Sue the B!@$#&*%

If you've been subject to repeated abusive behavior, consider suing the collection agency. But don't bother if the illegal behavior was annoying but nothing more. For example, if the collector called three times in one day but never again, you probably don't have a case.

You can represent yourself in small claims court, or hire a lawyer and go to regular court. (The other side may have to pay your attorney fees and court costs if you win.) You're entitled to any actual lossesâ€”for example, your pain and suffering, or the amount you paid to switch to an unlisted number to avoid harassmentâ€”and up to $1,000 in punitive damages.

In truly outrageous casesâ€”especially if the abuse inflicted on you was substantial and you have reports from therapists and doctors documenting your sufferingâ€”consider hiring a lawyer to represent you. One Texas jury awarded $11 million to a woman and her husband against both a collection agency and creditor. The collector had called the woman repeatedly at home and work, and made death and bomb threats. She, fearing for her own and her husband's safety, had actually moved out of town. (Driscol v. Allied Adjustment Bureau, Docket #92-7267 (El Paso, TX 1995).)"

sign up with a company like consalidated credit or elimidebt i have used both and they are great can help you get back on track

Reconsolidate your debt by getting equity out of your house.

the only way to stop them is too pay your bills. Call your credit card company and tell them what is going on.

Change your phone number. Use a cell phone don't keep a house phone. Then never update the number with them. If you do have to talk to a company for some reason and they want a phone number give the old one.

Welcome to the world that everyone lives in...
Everyone has debt problems..The best solution is call the credit card company and make some kind of arraingement such as auto pay,direct debit out of your account so they dont constantly call you.If you keep ignoring your bills,be prepared to have the phone ring off the hook as they will not give up on you.

depending how much you owe, you might consider bankruptcy

Tell them you're going to report them to the Better Business Bureau for harassment.

Instead of telling them when you can pay, tell them that would like to make arrangements with them. I did with Citibank and it helped a lot.

Some states have laws that if you tell them not to call you any more, they have to stop. However, you'd have to check into that. Also, unplugging your phone works if things get desperate. Good luck!

If you are paying them what you can, and it is not enough, then I would go on the offense and call them to set up different payment arrangements. Or when they call, talk to the person's boss to set it up how you want.

I would also write them a cease and desist letter where you can demand that they not call you and by law they can't. You can look up how on the internet.

What u need 2 do is get privicy directory from your phone company. Also,try to continue to pay that debt off because u really need good credit these days.And what privacy director will do is give you the option to answer or not,but they have to identify their name and their company.

Pretty self explanatory.

Get call display and never answer them

Pay it off. That's it. It was very publicized that rates were changing for credit cards, so there was time to pay it off when you had the chance to avoid the calls.

I can see that no one is really answering your question! If you had the money, you would pay the bill, right? I know how you feel and am in the same situation. The only advice I have is to pay as much as you can when you can, and in the meantime, don't pick up the phone if you don't know who is calling. They will leave a message and you can just erase it, seeing as how you know you owe the money and you're paying it off as quickly as you can.

Put a block on your phone for all unknown numbers and call the phone company it is against the law to harass you.

There are several consumer financial assistance groups that are available. The one I can recommend is Ameridebt. Its a non-profit credit counseling organization. They'll contact your creditors, negotiate payments, consolidate payments; they'll do for you what will work best with your needs. I've used them in the past & they were great to work with! They only drawback, (but a blessing at the same time) is that you'll loose your credit with the creditor, meaning you will no longer be provided services with that company. I used Ameridebt to pay off several hospital bills and credit cards (Master Card, & the Good Guys). My accounts were closed with the companies. Several years ago, Mastercard started sending applications again, and I haven't been able to get credit with other retail stores that use Household Bank Services (the provider of the Good Guys account); but honestly, it's worked out to be a blessing in disguise because it's kept me out of debt, away from credit cards, and I realize that if I don't have the cash to pay for it, I shouldn't be buying it in the first place! It's nice to rid that financial burden.

Good luck to you!

stop spending $ you don't have

SORRY YOU GOT THE WRONG # AND LET THEM KNOW YOU"VE BEEN GETTING THESE CALLS AND WOULD LIKE THEM TO STOP. TELL THEM YOU JUST GOT THIS NEW #.

its unfair that the upped the payment. pay waht you can at least your paying something off.

Your credit will suffer either way - but call a credit counselor so you can get a handle on your bills.

Get a second job and pay the bills off faster.

I agree with everyone, the bills need to be payed. A couple of years ago, I was deep in debt. As we all know, the interest rates increased, and I was in deep S*%!! I was able to work out a deal with many creditors, but I still have a few hanging out there. I also get the bill collector calls, but don't pick up half the time. It's like being in prison. The only way out, is to do your time I guess. I did work with Citi, and Discover to get on a payment plan, which helped a lot. As of recent, I did the same thing with Chase. In order to rebuild my credit, I hired Lexington. They are great to work with, and can get some of the charge offs, and late payments deleted from your credit history. This will vastly improve your score, and help you recover much quicker in terms of credit. You may also want to get a second income in your spare time. This can work wonders. I searched high and low during my two year struggle, and I was only able to find a few legit programs. My favorite was www.1clickprofit.com It helped me to make money in my spare time after work, and pay down the debts much quicker. After you pay them off, it only gets easier. Once they're payed off, keep one for your credit rebuild and that's it. They report to the credit bureau once a month, so it's good to even have a small limit, and pay on time. Hope this helps, and good luck. I feel your pain.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment:

Archive: Forum -Forum -Finance - Links - 1 - 2 - RSS - All RSS Feeds
The Causes and the Results. 0.064
Copyright (c) 2011 Financial Crisis Monday, May 28, 2012 - Terms of use - Privacy Policy