If you’re drowning in debt, then you may be receiving incessant calls and letters from creditors. You may want to familiarize yourself with federal laws such as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) if you’re wondering if their actions are legal.
According to The Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, debt collectors may attempt to reach you by fax, mail or phone any time between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. daily.
They can even reach out to people that know you to try to find out your phone number, place of employment or home address if they want to. If they know where you work, then they can also call your job.
When creditors call people that you know, they can’t readily identify themselves as debt collectors unless they’re asked about why they’re calling. Even if they do say that they’re your creditors, they’re not authorized to say why or how much your debt with them is.
If they call your job, and you inform them that your employer doesn’t allow debt collector calls, then existing laws prohibit them from continuing to try to reach you at your workplace.
Your creditors can’t make contact with you or anyone else if you’re represented by an attorney. They also can’t continue to send you mail or call you once you’ve sent them a letter requesting for them to stop doing so. The only reason that they can is if they’re about to take some type of legal action against you.
Debt collectors are also forbidden from making misleading, false or deceptive statements to you about how much you owe or the lengths to which they will go to collect on that debt. They can’t threaten you verbally or physically in an attempt to get you to pay either.
They also can’t apply an amount you pay to a different outstanding debt that you may owe, try to deposit a post-dated check early or collect more than what’s due. Any of these may be considered as an unfair debt collection practice.
Residents of Vadnais Heights are subject to abusive debt collection practices far too often because creditors think that they can get away with it. An attorney can advise you what is covered under this law and what legal remedies that you may be able to pursue if your creditors violated it.
