Debt collectors calling: Understand when and when a debt collector cannot call you

Debt collectors calling: Understand when and when a debt collector cannot call you

The Minneapolis collection agency repeatedly called Lisa and her husband, Michael, according to a lawsuit filed by the Minnesota attorney general, and demanded that the couple pay a debt owed by one Lisa Sterns. The couple, just as repeatedly, told the collector they didn't know any Lisa Sterns and asked the company to stop calling.

Allied ignored the couple's requests. At one point, the collector insisted that the Burks were lying or, if Lisa Burk were not Lisa Sterns, that she knew Sterns and could tell Allied Interstate where to find her. It took intervention by the attorney general's office for the calls to finally stop.

The Burks' experience with abusive collection agency tactics was annoying. Paul Alappat's encounter with a collector was expensive.

Alappat said he was called two or three times by Buffalo, N.Y., collection agency Capital Management Services about a Chase Bank credit card debt. Alappat told the collector he had never possessed a Chase Bank card and asked them to stop calling him.

When he applied for a home-equity loan two years later, however, the collection showed up on his credit report. His lender told him that if the $394.74 debt were not resolved, the loan couldn't be made.

"Since I was in a hurry to get the loan approved," Alappat said, "I paid the full amount, including the interest."

Debt collectors seem to call at the most inconvenient times, don't they? Actually, anytime someone calls asking for money is an inconvenience. There's nothing pleasant about being pressed to pay a bill, especially when you can't afford it.

. They can call between 8am and 9pm, your local time

. They can call you at work if they do not know your employer disapproves

. They can call you once more after receiving a cease and desist letter

What about weekends and holidays? Fortunately, many businesses, including collection agencies, are closed on weekends and holidays. Although the FDCPA doesn't specifically state which days of the week collectors can and cannot call, it does state that collectors cannot communicate with you during times "which should be known to be inconvenient."

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