Comments on: Debt Collectors Breathing Down Your Neck? Five Ways To Stop The Insanity http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/02/18/debt-collectors-breathing-down-your-neck-five-ways-to-stop-the-insanity/ Financial talk for the rest of us Sat, 16 Feb 2013 01:14:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: barry1234 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/02/18/debt-collectors-breathing-down-your-neck-five-ways-to-stop-the-insanity/#comment-163895 barry1234 Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:02:39 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/02/18/debt-collectors-breathing-down-your-neck-five-ways-to-stop-the-insanity/#comment-163895 1. Ask what the exact balance is, and then tell them
you just got a loan and will be the sending a
check for the balance in the next day or two.
2. When they ask you to set up a payment over the
phone, tell them the bank’s overnighting it.

This will keep them from calling you for the next ten days.

Or, you could always tell that you need a lower monthly minimum and interest rates are so high you can’t really get ahead. Important: tell them it’s going to take you at least a couple years to get caught up. Then you’re more likely to get a long-term program with low interest and low montly payments. *This only works though if your account HAS NOT gone to an outside collection agency. Don’t wait til that happens! Work on your account before it charges off!

]]> By: Kevin http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/02/18/debt-collectors-breathing-down-your-neck-five-ways-to-stop-the-insanity/#comment-11165 Kevin Sat, 17 Mar 2007 23:54:29 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/02/18/debt-collectors-breathing-down-your-neck-five-ways-to-stop-the-insanity/#comment-11165 When someone calles you on the phone asking you to pay money for a debt, do you just say ok here is my checking account number? No! There is a website http://www.adviceontime.com who has a shot narrative on credit. It makes sense. I have every single person stop calling me and validate the debt first. Why should I pay for some else who hase the same name that I have? And why do they keep calling me? They use google to search names then attack the first person with the same name. That is wrong. Do your homework first then pay who you think you owe if they can prove it.

]]> By: icup http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/02/18/debt-collectors-breathing-down-your-neck-five-ways-to-stop-the-insanity/#comment-6825 icup Mon, 19 Feb 2007 20:43:03 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/02/18/debt-collectors-breathing-down-your-neck-five-ways-to-stop-the-insanity/#comment-6825 I have this problem where debt collectors contact ME about OTHER people’s debts. It seems to happen at least once a year for some reason. One time it was over my Mom’s debts. Another time it was because some deadbeat I don’t even know put down my cell phone number somewhere on some form.

Anyway, from my experience, it is extremely difficult to get debt collectors to give you their address so you can write to them to request they stop calling you. Hell, its difficult to even get them to answer the phone sometimes, even though they call me EVERY DAY.

Oh, and re: negotiation, make DAMN SURE its your debt they are calling you about before you even mention you might be willing to negotiate. If you agree to pay a debt that is not yours, they can and will treat it like a verbal contract and go after you for it even if you don’t know the person who incurred the debt. And they set it up so that you have to call them and agree to them recording you before they will even talk to you, so there is their proof in court.

]]> By: jake http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/02/18/debt-collectors-breathing-down-your-neck-five-ways-to-stop-the-insanity/#comment-6707 jake Mon, 19 Feb 2007 02:14:49 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/02/18/debt-collectors-breathing-down-your-neck-five-ways-to-stop-the-insanity/#comment-6707 You can also record calls. I had the unfortunate privilege of being called on a over due credit card payment (the only one ever because of miscommunication on my part), but i was just surprised at how aggressive and just out right mean they are.

The guy kept asking when I would pay, or if I can pay right now. After I told him I’d pay as soon as I can he told me he has made a note of it on the system that i promise to pay within 3 days before I get another call. I only had about $50 on the account. The whole time I was thinking what a crappy job he had, calling people with bad news and nagging them about payments kinda reminds me of mafia people in movies.

It didn’t hit me until i ran a credit check for my FICO score and it showed up. It hurt even more when i found out it will remain there for 7 years!! It is still a sight for sore eyes every time i run a FICO score report. Its like a F on your grade report. It stands out.

]]> By: ideagirl http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/02/18/debt-collectors-breathing-down-your-neck-five-ways-to-stop-the-insanity/#comment-6678 ideagirl Sun, 18 Feb 2007 21:43:07 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/02/18/debt-collectors-breathing-down-your-neck-five-ways-to-stop-the-insanity/#comment-6678 You forgot another very important step–request that ALL communication be in writing. If you do this, by law they have to 1) provide you a written notice of the debt within 30 days, 2) stop calling you immediately. A simple, “All communiction regarding this issues must be in writing,” and terminating the call will do the trick. Just note the date and time of the call for your records, as well as the name of the caller (it will probably be fake) and any caller ID info for your records.

Note that I live in California, the laws may very n other states, but I am pretty certain this is also spelled out in the FDCPA.

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