When you are unable to repay your debts, it can be stressful. You may be concerned about how your debt will affect your credit score and what will happen if the creditors contact you for repayment. Unfortunately, collecting on debts is an area that often falls into gray areas of law. It’s important to understand your rights and inkasso regler (debt collection rules) so you know what to do when contacted by a debt collector.
Here are some ways to ensure they don’t take advantage of you or violate the law by contacting you with harassing phone calls or taking unreasonable steps to collect on your debt.
Debt Collection Rules
#1: Know your rights
Debt collection rules can vary from state to state. Make sure you’re knowledgeable about your rights as a consumer and be prepared to exercise them should a debt collector violate those rights.
Your state laws will dictate what type of information a debt collector is legally allowed to ask for, how often they can contact you, and whether or not they may garnish wages or accounts at the time of default. It’s always best to know these rules as well as possible so you know if a creditor has overstepped its boundaries.
#2: Keep good records
To protect themselves, many creditors go after consumers who have bad credit scores or little financial stability. To avoid being taken advantage of because of your weak position, it’s important that you keep good records of all correspondence with creditors and debt collectors.
This may include emails, phone calls, texts, payment history. Keeping detailed records could help if a debt collector violates the law by contacting you without going through the proper channels or attempts to collect more than is reasonable under the law.
#3: Keep demands reasonable
A creditor isn’t allowed to ask for unreasonable things from you when collecting on your debts such as property ownership documents, vehicle ownership documents, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers. These are all personal pieces of information that are not necessary to collect on an unpaid debt; therefore asking for them violates your privacy rights.
What Are My Rights?
You have certain rights when it comes to inkasso regler (debt collection rules). One of the most significant rights is the right to dispute the validity of the debt, which is often done in writing with a letter or in-person with your creditor. When disputing the validity, you will need to provide evidence that the debt is not yours.
You should also provide evidence if you believe there are errors in how much you owe when payment was due, and so on. Disputing the validity of the debt does not stop any legal action against you but it can buy time while your dispute is being looked into.
You also have the right to refuse to answer inquiries made by any collector about what kind of property you own (other than your home). If they ask about this information, they are breaking federal law. They may only contact you for that information if they intend to take or repossess something that belongs to you or if they must know where something belongs for them to collect on your account.
You also have a right against harassment by collectors who violate any laws, like contacting you at unreasonable hours or calling incessantly. If they do harass you, talk with an attorney immediately to find out what steps can be taken against them.
