California law provides consumer protection against unfair, deceptive, and / or abusive debt collectors and illegal debt collection techniques and practices. If a debt collector threatens violence or even suggests that bad things will happen to you if you fail to pay a particular debt, you are breaking the law. In fact, in California this is considered a criminal act and the authorities will pursue it.

If you, as a consumer, feel that you are being harassed, you can ask the debt collector to stop calling or contacting you. You have that right and they must comply and not contact you again except through a court order or subpoena.

Specifically, a debt collector cannot swear on you over the phone or call you four-letter words. They can’t threaten to ‘sue you to shit’ if you don’t pay a bill. They may inform you that they will be required to take other legal action or file in small claims court or other court to find another way to collect the debt. They cannot threaten to take legal action against you that they do not really intend to take.

Debt collectors cannot make false and misleading statements. They are not allowed to lie about the debt or not tell you that the reason for the contact is about the debt. They are not allowed to call in to fish for information pretending to be a customer, a job applicant, a supplier, or a government agency. They may not use similar looking logos or identifications that mimic a court, government agency, credit reporting company, or law firm. All these types of hoaxes are illegal behavior, they are illegal in the state of California.

If they make repeated phone calls for a short period of time in the hopes of harassing you and exhausting you so that you agree to pay just to stop the harassment, you can tell them to stop calling. If they don’t stop calling, you should report them. Debt collectors cannot call late into the night, they can only call between 8 a.m. M. And 9 p.m. M. You can also ask them to call you at a certain time or at specific times more appropriate and they must comply.

If a debt collector contacts you at work and you ask him not to contact you at work, he must comply. It would be wise to send this in writing for a paper record if you think this debt problem will one day end up in court. You can ask a debt collector to stop contacting you and have that in writing for sure that helps. You can also put them on notice. Failure to comply could mean hefty fines or revocation of the debt collection license.

As a consumer, you have rights; In California, the authorities will enforce those rights and the debt collection industry knows it.

If you are disputing a debt. Make your dispute known in advance and in writing. It will help you later in case the dispute ends up in court, or in case you later want to eliminate errors in your credit score. Having a document record is important in all disputed debt matters. It is also important to know your rights as a consumer. Above all, it is important to have a competent attorney on your side if things seem to get out of hand.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *