The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act established specific guidelines for Creditors to follow in their pursuit of gathering a debt.  The rules and procedures are extensive (read the entire Fair Debt Collection Act here, if you like) but most of our clients’ questions are answered in this handy fact sheet that explains by what means creditors may contact you and what simple legal action you can take to end their telephonic harassment. 

In answer to a few questions:

Yes, you can request that creditors stop calling you at work, bothering your family or neighbors, or calling at inappropriate times by writing a letter to the creditor and telling them to cease contacting you.  The creditor still has the right to contact you if they decide to sue you or pursue other legal means of recovering their debt. You must respond to all legal suits regarding your debt collection. 

It is illegal for a creditor to threaten or verbally abuse you.

There is a statute of limitation on debt collection.  If you are being asked to pay a debt that has been written off under the statute of limitations (in California, creditors have 4 years to collect most debts) then your debt has probably been sold to a scavenger collection agency.  This website has information on handling this type of debt collection and a listing of statute of limitation designations for each state. 

If you wish to contest a debt you must do so in WRITING within 30 DAYS of receipt of the collection notice.