Pest Be Gone! How to Stop Collection Calls?

Tired of debt collectors calling you all hours of the day? Here’s what you need to do to get your sanity back once and for all. At one time or another, we have received those pesky, pesky, and annoying calls from debt collectors. They can be one of the most annoying types of calls to the point where you think about changing your numbers to end contact with them.

However, what most people do not know there is a better way than changing your number when dealing with collection calls.

What Times Can a Debt Collector Call?

Did you know that those pesky debt collectors are supposed to abide by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act?

Yes! The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is a federal law that gives strict guidelines of what they can do and what they cannot do when they are trying to collect a debt.

First and foremost, what many people do not know is that debt collectors cannot call you pertaining to a debt that you do not legally owe.

During the first contact, a debt collector will be required to send you verification of the debt, if you were to request it. However, if the debt collector fails to send you verification of the debt, then by the federal law they cannot be in contact with you any further.

Even if you do not ask for the verification of a debt, debt collectors will still have to follow certain guidelines when they are contacting you via the telephone.

For instance, debt collectors cannot ring your phone prior to 8 am and cannot ring your phone after 9 pm. Debt collectors also cannot call you repeatedly or call you during times you have told them is inconvenient.

How to Stop Collection Calls

Unfortunately, to everyone’s dismay, there is NO law that says debt collectors that they cannot call you via telephone. So, if you decide to answer the call and hang up on them, there is nothing they can really do about that situation.

However, if the debt collector repeatedly calls after you have hung up on them every single time, then the debt collector is violating the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.

Letter to Creditors to Stop Calling

Did you know that you can stop debt collectors from contacting you via the telephone by writing them a letter?

You got that right! When you send a letter also known as the cease and desist letter, the debt collector will not be permitted to contact you via the telephone, but they will be required to send you all future correspondences through letters.

Even though you will still get written communication from the debt collectors, but that is something that you can keep for your records of everything that is/being said to you. And in the chance that the debt collector violates the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, you will have evidence that could result in you winning a lawsuit.

What is a Cease and Desist Letter?

A cease and desist letter are going to be the letter you will send the debt collectors for them to stop calling you.

In a cease and desist letter it will only apply to the third-party debt collectors who are trying to collect the debt from the company you originally created the debt with.

You should note that the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act states that the cease and desist will not apply to the original creditor. If they want to contact you, they will still be able to contact you via the telephone.

What Happens After I Send the Cease and Desist Letter?

Once the debt collection agency gets your cease and desist letter, they have one more option to communicate with you through the mail stating that you should know these three things:

  • That the efforts to collect the debt will be terminated
  • That the debt collector can take specific actions
  • That the debt collector is going to take the specific actions

Make sure when you send your cease and desist letter that you send it through the certified mail along with the return receipt requested. This will give you the proof that you need that not only the letter was sent, but it was also received by the debt collector.

So, if the debt collector decides to contact you via the telephone after this letter was sent, then you can file a lawsuit against them for violating the law.