I envy my friend John. He owed quite a huge sum of money to various creditors up to a point where he had to engage the help of Freedom Debt Relief to get himself out of his mounting debts. But even in his predicament, he did not let anyone boss him around nor was he intimidated by anybody. Many debtors may attempt to avoid having to face debt collectors and creditors alike but John faced them head on. He was not afraid to pick up calls from bill collectors or creditors at all. When I asked him what was it that got him to be so brave, his only answer was “knowledge”. I did not quite understand. What knowledge? Later I found out from a friend that what John meant was the knowledge of his rights as a debtor. I was even more dumbfounded than before. Debtors have rights?

The rights John was referring to was the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Basically the FDCPA protects debtors from abusive and often irritating practices on the part of creditors or sometimes the third-party collection agencies they hire to collect debts on their behalf. The laws differ from state to state as some states cover collection attempts made by debt collectors and not the creditors themselves. However, many states prohibit serious harassment regardless of who is doing the collecting. John depended heavily on the FDCPA to be able to stop the creditors and debt collectors who had been harassing him prior to his enrollment into the debt relief program of his choice. This is because the FDCPA has guidelines on the rules and regulations of debt collection methods as well as ethics. Basically there may be times when a debt collector may not contact you at all.

John first received a call from a debt collector a few months ago without any written notice. John immediately insisted that the debt collector mail him the written information which includes the name of the creditor, the amount of debt, penalties and interest as well as an explanation of his rights as a debtor. He obtained the details of the caller and retained it to follow up with them later should they still fail to provide him with anything in writing. John was systematic. He started his own file on the debt collector with records of every single call and copies of all documents involved in the claim. The debt collector obviously chose to ignore the guidelines of the FDCPA as they continued to call John at odd hours including harassing him at his office.

After three odd hour calls, John immediately wrote a letter insisting the debt collector to stop calling him at home or at work. Of course, John being the organized guy that he is made a copy of the letter and kept it in the debt collector file that he started. He took the time to research whether he really did owe the money that the debt collector claimed he did and intended to immediately settle the debts after sending the letter instructing the debt collector to stop calling him. However, the persistent debt collector kept calling. Clearly violating the FDCPA by harassment, they continued calling John even after he informed them he had already sent a letter instructing them to stop immediately.

When letters did not work, John went to the Federal Trade Commission to file a formal complaint. It was at this time that the file he compiled on the debt collector’s calls and documents turned out to be quite useful. The file he kept helped him provide detailed information regarding the harassment calls and the debt he owed his creditors as well. John also contacted the state attorney general’s office as part of his way of stopping the harassment calls from the bill collector. They gladly took his case as he had compiled a comprehensive and complete documentation of the collector’s harassment activities.

Once John’s case was settled he started to seriously follow the debt relief program that he enrolled with. Within a few years, his debts were all paid for and until now he managed to live his life debt free.

Author Bio: freedom debt relief

Category: Finances
Keywords: freedom debt relief