How To Legally Evade Credit Card Collection Agencies

Credit card collection agencies are hired by your credit card company to attempt to collect on your unpaid debt. The agencies are hired because credit card companies themselves do not have sufficient resources to dedicate to recovering all of these debts. The agencies receive a commission if the debt is collected, which means they have a large incentive to collect from you. Many of these agencies do not have the legal right to seek you out, which means you can legally avoid them.

Credit Card Collection Laws

The first thing you should consider when you want to avoid collection agencies is whether those agencies are acting within the law. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is used in conjunction with the Fair Credit Reporting Act to protect a number of your rights as a consumer. There are many restricted activities based on these laws, including:

• Hours of contact
• Failure to cease contact upon request
• Repeatedly seeking conversation with you
• Communicating with you at work
• Contacting you despite your request to utilize an attorney
• Publishing your name or address to a list
• Abusive language

This list is not exhaustive, but it does include a number of the minimum requirements within the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. If you feel the company contacting you is in violation of these laws, you have the right to seek judgement.

Credit Card Contract Provisions

Even if a company is acting within its broad legal rights, it may not have the authority to seek to collect your debt. You need to be aware of whether this company is legally allowed to seek collections from you based on your credit card contract among other factors. To determine whether a company is acting within these limitations, assure the following takes place:

• The collections agency must identify itself by name in any written or verbal communication.
• You must be provided with full information regarding the debtor who called in collections, including a full legal name and address.
• You must be notified of your right to dispute the debt within a 30-day period.
• You have the right to verify the debt through the collections agency through a written request that must be responded to in an appropriate amount of time. The collections agency may not contact you until the written request has been answered.

When to Ignore Collections Calls

You have a right to ignore calls from a collections agency as you do not technically owe them anything. Ignoring collections calls will not increase the amount of debt you owe or bring any legal action against you. If a collections company seeks legal action, it must be in a jurisdiction allowed by your credit card contract and under terms provided by that contract. If you do owe the original creditor, it is in your best interest to repay the debt to that creditor immediately. Once a debt goes to collections, your credit score will be significantly impacted and there will be additional costs associated with collection agencies. Be proactive and pay the debt quickly. If you cannot pay the debt, you may consider using a credit card debt relief agency to negotiate for lower sums.