Debt collectors
A collector doesn’t get to scare you into paying
Federal law sets rules for how collectors may contact you, what they may say, and what they have to prove. When they break those rules, you can sue them.
I see the same moves every week: calls to a client’s job after she asked them to stop, a letter threatening a lawsuit nobody planned to file, a debt that was paid, settled or sold three times over. Some of it is just rude. A lot of it is illegal.
If you’ve been sued, I defend the case and make the company prove you owe what it says. If the collector broke the law along the way, we can ask the court to make it pay for that too.
Off limits
Things a collector isn’t allowed to do to you
Threaten what it can’t do
Arrest, taking your wages without a court judgment, or a lawsuit it never meant to file.
Keep calling after no
At work once you’ve said your employer doesn’t allow it, or at all once you’ve told it in writing to stop.
Tell others about your debt
Your boss, your neighbors, your family, apart from a few narrow exceptions.
Collect what you don’t owe
Fees the contract doesn’t allow, debts already paid, and debts that belong to someone else.
When the collector calls, or the court papers come
Should I just pay to make it stop?
Not before you know the debt is yours and the amount is right. Paying part of an old debt can sometimes restart the clock on it. Ask the collector to verify the debt in writing first.
I’ve been sued. What happens if I do nothing?
The company can get a default judgment, and with it the power to garnish wages or freeze a bank account. The deadline to respond is short, so call as soon as you’re served.
Will suing a collector hurt my credit?
No. A case you bring over a collector’s conduct isn’t reported to the credit bureaus. If the collector reported something false, fixing that can be part of the case.
Got a letter or court papers? Send me a photo.
I’ll read it and call you back with what it means and when the deadline is.