Taking a loan is not something people enjoy doing. However, we can see that it is rather necessary for some situations. For instance, you may need to secure additional funds for some business projects. It’s only natural that you will ask for a loan of some sort. That way, you can finalize your project as soon as possible.
While paying that loan out is not a pleasant experience, it can make it worth your while. It needs to be said that collection agencies should follow the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. For those who don’t know what this is, we are talking about regulations that set boundaries on how they can act in these situations.
But when they do something they are not allowed to do according to this regulation, then seeking the help of a lawyer is something you should do. If you need legal consultation or help from debt collection harassment attorneys, pay a visit to yourlegalrightsadvocates.com.
Now, we would like to discuss the things that can help you understand collection agency harassment.
How This Harassment Can Occur?
As you can presume, this harassment can be quite unpleasant. There are various ways it can occur. Naturally, the commonest manifestation is an agent that constantly calls you on your mobile phone. As you know, you are obligated to provide the agents with your mobile phone in cases when they need to reach out to you for some reason.
When this happens constantly, it can add to your stress levels. Nobody likes to be disturbed in situations like these. Not to mention that your email can be filled with numerous messages where you can find messages that do not appeal to you, for whatever reason. The whole situation can lead to anxiety.
You will see that most of the agencies, let’s say, play by the rules, that are provided by the Act we have mentioned. Sometimes, their overreaching can fit the clauses in it. However, there are situations when it becomes clear that they have done much more than they are allowed to. That’s the moment for you to act.
How to Stop the Harassment?
Now, we want to show you a couple of ways you can put a stop to the harassment.
1. Cease Communication
The initial thing you need to do is to send a message to the collector and inform them that they should stop calling you. Naturally, there is no magic formula that would fit every scenario. Therefore, you need to rely on yourself and your feeling about how these things should be handled. Sure, you need to be careful about the message.
The act is pretty clear on this, the agency should comply with your request for them to stop reaching out to you. If they do not comply with it, then it becomes possible for you to act. For instance, it is possible to file a report to a Federal Trade Commission, which is an institution that has the responsibility of monitoring how these agencies behave.
2. Document all Harassment
If they do not comply with your request not to contact you, then it is obvious that you should start documenting all the harassment that has occurred after that. It means that you should be quite systematic about it. Therefore, make sure to not the date and hour when something occurred and what was the reason for it.
One of the ways that can be done is by recording the conversations you have with the agent. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to record yourself when you tell them they shouldn’t disturb you. So, when the problems continue, then you can easily prove that they have done something they were not allowed to.
3.Filling a Complaint
The final tip we want to show you is finally filing a complaint. There are two ways you can carry this out. The first option is to file a complaint with the FTC. That’s an easy thing to do. You can do it by finding the website of an FTC and filling out a report. In that document, you should enlist all the essential elements of the occurrence.
Sometimes, the agent can be open to agreeing on canceling the debt as a whole if you decide not to file a complaint against them. That usually happens when you are about to send a complaint to the state agency that monitors them. The reason is rather simple, they risk losing a license for working in this field.
What About Suing Them?
According to numerous reports that focused on this subject, we can see that a vast majority of people out there do not exercise their right to sue a collection agency. In most cases, people do not want to bother with these things, since they know that these cases can get quite uncomfortable.
For starters, it is important to acknowledge this as a possibility. Of course, this is the first step toward doing so. As is the case with pretty much every lawsuit, you need to make sure that your case is solid, and that risks are minimal for you. Without a doubt, an experienced attorney can help a lot with that.
Based on the case you have, the attorney will say whether is it worth your while to sue the agency or just to file a complaint to one of the institutions we’ve named earlier. The probability of your case being a success can rise significantly if that agency had previous cases when they were sued for their behavior.
In Conclusion
Experiencing an encounter with a collection agency doesn’t have to be unpleasant in all situations. In most cases, all things will be as smooth as they need to be. However, when something is not right, you would need to take some action to prevent any future problems.
Here, we’ve provided you with detailed insight into what your steps should be in this situation. We’ve focused on what you should do when you decide to sue the agency. We’re sure you will find this insight helpful.
