What are they and what can I do about them?
Receiving a notice from a debt collection agency can be upsetting. You may wonder who is calling you or why. In many cases, it is difficult to determine who the person is or why they are contacting you. In this situation, there are two good things to say. You have the right to insist that a debt collector verifies what debts they are trying collect. In most cases, bankruptcy is a good way to deal with their persistent efforts to collect money from you.
In order to verify the debt, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, also known as the FDCPA, allows you to demand that a collector verify both the debt they are collecting and the amount they are trying collect. If you’re unsure of what a debt collector is trying to collect, or if it seems like a scam, then you can send them a written request asking that they verify the debt owed and validate the debt.
The FDCPA can be a powerful tool in this situation, as it puts the onus on debt collectors to prove that they are legally entitled to collect on a debt. It can be helpful in this regard to ensure that not only is a debt authentic, but that the debt collector has the legal right to pursue the debt and that you have the authority to pursue the debt. Here’s where bankruptcy comes in. In many cases, filing for bankruptcy can stop these collection efforts. This is because of a mechanism called the automatic stay. It prevents a creditor, or a debt collector, working on their behalf, from pursuing debts from individuals who are actively engaged in bankruptcy. Once the bankruptcy discharge is complete, creditors are prohibited from pursuing you for any debts that were discharged. In speaking with your bankruptcy attorney, they will explain the specific parameters of how the bankruptcy process can be leveraged to protect you from your creditors.
The process of debt collection can often be more than a little bit scary, and the tactics employed by many debt collectors play no small part in that. The good news is that legislation passed by congress such as the FDCPA and the Bankruptcy Code provide safeguards that assist people in protecting themselves from over-reaching creditors, and we are here to help you navigate these safeguards to ensure that they work for your benefit.
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When the time is right, or when you are ready, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Minnesota’s most kind and helpful bankruptcy law firm by going now to
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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apWz1TJ1gKw
