For those of us who've been through the ringer of a lost job, lower income than expected, or emergencies, know the dread and anger that can come from creditor collection calls. Creditors are infamous for their sometimes harsh methods of collection like scare tactics, threats and worst of all, the incessant whine.

Disclaimer: This section does not condone or recommend that you skirt your responsibilities to your creditors, nor does it claim to have even the slightest shred of legal advise for you. If you are dealing with a real "clincher" of a problem, we, as always, suggest you talk to a debt consolidation expert or an attorney.

Ok. Here goes: For starters, here's a quote from the FTC's website directly out of the "Fair Debt Collection Practices Act" (FDCPA) which shows the recent findings of the creditors practices:

(a) There is abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors. Abusive debt collection practices contribute to the number of personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs, and to invasions of individual privacy.

That being said, you're probably wondering what the creditors are allowed to do, and if they are breaking the FDCPA when attempting to collect from you. So, here is the list of things they can and cannot do in a nutshell:

1. A creditor may contact friends, family or employer to find your whereabouts. He cannot say that you owe any debts, nor imply that he is a debt collection agency in any way. If the consumer is represented by an attorney, he then cannot contact anyone but that attorney.
2. A Creditor may only call within the hours of 8 am and 9pm YOUR TIME.
3. A Creditor cannot call your work if you've notified them that you cannot receive calls at work.
4. You can request in writing that the creditor no longer contact you. once you've done this, they can contact you for two reasons: To let you know they've given up on collecting or for notifications of special actions, judgments or other "remedies."
5. A creditor may not "harass, oppress, or abuse" you in regards to collecting a debt. This includes threats of physical harm, reputation, foul language or simply to just annoy until you pay.
6. Your Creditor may not publish you as a person who doesn't pay their debt in any way, shape or form.
7. A creditor may not misrepresent themselves as a government agent, state agent, credit bureau agent, attorney or any other person with "real" collection power. They cannot imprison or arrest you for not paying your debt. Only the Government can do that.
8. A creditor can only charge interest and fees allowed by law. They also cannot charge you for communication expenses with a misrepresented purpose.
9. A creditor may take judicial action, and if the courts see fit, garnish wages or personal property. This is done only through the court systems, so make sure that all documents you receive are official and not a creditor "trick."

For more detailed information and confusing wording of the above items, here is the full FDCPA on the FTC's website.

If the creditor breaks these, you can sue for damages! Here's what the FTC says you're entitled to one of:

1. Actual Damages that you can prove in a court of law. They may consist of emotional, monetary (loss of job due to calls at work, or boss finding out you don't pay your bills due to a creditor call), or physical (if you get attacked by a creditor, immediately call 911 and file a police report).
2. Class Action: For those who aren't familiar with this term, it means "Me, and all the other people you've broken the law on trying to collect debts, are coming after you!" An example of a class action suit is in the movie "Erin Brockovich" where a group of people got together and sued and each received a settlement according to their distress. The maximum per person is not to exceed $500,000 or 1 percent of the net worth of the person/company plus attorney costs if the court sees fit.

Whew. So, in summary, if you are getting harassed by creditors and they are breaking the above mentioned regulations we suggest you talk to an attorney or a debt consolidation/negotiation specialist. There are quite a few debt negotiation companies who handle creditor calls through power of attorney. For more information about debt settlement, read the "debt negotiation" section or call the number below.

If you would like to see how a settlement company can help represent you in these regards, click here