November 8, 2015

Repeated phone calls. Pink letters displayed through envelope windows. Threats of wage garnishment. Family members getting asked questions about your private affairs. Life gets annoyingly difficult whenever creditors get involved in your financial troubles. Clearly, the best way to prevent creditor harassment is to address your financial issues before they become a crippling problem. But, what do you do to stop creditor harassment when you just aren’t in a position to pay back everything you owe immediately? Have you ever heard of the old saying, “You can’t suck blood from a turnip.” Well, you could very easily be in a situation where you just can’t give those collection agencies the money they want.

If you find yourself being targeted by debt collectors without reprieve, you don’t have to sit back and just take it. Even though you admittedly have debts that you are responsible for paying back, creditors cannot use “by any means necessary” tactics to squeeze money out of you. Did you know that you do have legal rights, even when you are behind on your debts? In many cases, collectors are breaking the law in their efforts to receive payment from you.

Your Rights Under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA)

Under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, it is illegal for debt collectors to:

• Notify your employers, neighbors, or family about your debt. They can call to inquire about your location, but they are not allowed to mention your debt in anyway.
• Call you at unreasonable hours of the day.
• Call you at your place of employment.
• Call you repeatedly. They may make regular attempts to contact you, but they cannot call you over and over and over.
• Engage in deceptive conduct to contact you, to identify themselves, or to collect funds.
• Call without disclosing the collector’s identity.
• Use obscene, derogatory or insulting language in communications with you.
• Publish your name in any materials.
• Threaten arrest, loss of child custody, or reduction of welfare benefits if debts are not paid.
• Use any identifying information on an envelope to identify the sender is a debt collection business.

If a debt collection agency violates any of these laws, they have violated your legal rights. You may be able to sue them for damages, attorney fees, and up to an additional $1,000.00.

When you find yourself in a financial pit, with bills piling up, it’s easy to forget that you still have legal rights. Creditor harassment intrudes on your personal life, your family’s business, and can ruin your personal reputation. You shouldn’t have to stand idly by as collectors repeatedly insist on taking money that you just don’t have to give.

If you’ve found yourself under constant harassment from creditors, you need to have a skilled attorney on your side that understands that laws surrounding bankruptcy and creditor harassment; you deserve to have someone willing to do whatever it takes to protect your legal rights during a very vulnerable period in life. To learn more about stopping creditor harassment, call me, Michael E. Bryant, today at 419-243-3922 to schedule your free case evaluation. I am committed to helping good people going through difficult times throughout Toledo and Northwest Ohio. How can I help you?

Call Toledo, OH lawyer Michael E. Bryant today for all of your legal needs. Find Michael E. Bryant online at www.mebryantlaw.com, visit our law office in Toledo, OH on the second floor of 1119 Adams St. or call us at (419) 243-3922.