It is indeed challenging and stressful to deal with the debt collection agencies. In order to protect your credit rating, you need to have proper strategy to negotiate with them.

What can be done when you have been contacted by a debt collector regarding your debt issues?

• First thing first, you are reminded to know your rights as a debtor. You should find out the details of the debt collection statute of limitations in your state to see whether you are still legally obligated for your old debts. If the time limit has expired, you should write a letter to the debt collector to notify the collector that you are not responsible for the debts anymore. You can inform the collector not to contact you anymore.
• If your debts are still “new”, you are advised to check your credit report carefully to verify the debt amount. At the same time, you can call up your original creditor to find out whether the collection agency is legally authorized to collect debt from you. According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, every consumer has the right to request for the proof of debt before making any payment.
• Once the confirmation is done, you can start negotiating with your debt collection agency to request for debt reduction. You should inform the collector about the financial hardship you are facing and ask for a favor from the collector. You can propose to settle your debt at certain amount which you can afford to pay and get the approval from the collector.
• At the same time, discuss with the representative to see whether he or she can help to remove all the negative items from your credit report. You are reminded not to ignore the debt collection agent because any negative entry made by the agent on your credit report will definitely lower your credit score.
• The negotiation process is considered complete when you receive a settlement agreement from the debt collection agent. In the agreement, the collector must assure that your account will not be sold to other parties anymore in the future and no collection activity will take place once you have made the payment.

During economy crisis, when your card providers have not heard from you for quite a long time, do not expect them to write off your credit card debts. Non-stop phone calls from debt collection agencies are waiting for you. Hence, you are reminded to take proper steps to deal with them so that your credit score will not be damaged badly.

What would you do if you’re a identity theft victim, who has been mistakenly treated as a serious debtor with a total $12,000 unpaid 6-year-old credit card debt, and dealing with debt collectors who keep calling for a debt you don’t really owe? Watch the clip above to find out what you can do about bad debt collections.

When you receive a notice from a debt collection agency:

• First, don’t ignore this notice and don’t do nothing about it, and fight back! - you should dispute this issue in writing to the debt collection agency and force them to tell you so that you can make a judgment about how serious that situation is.
• Basically, you cannot be sued on a credit card debt that is more than 6 years old – normally the statute of limitations for old debts is just 6 years. If you’re unclear about it – refer to a debt settlement lawyer at your state.

Source: via 7online.com

From reminder letters to non-stop phone calls, the intention of the debt collectors is simple. They want the debtors to pay back their debts as soon as possible. It shouldn’t be any big issue if the collectors use gentle way to collect the payment.

However, there are many of them who use threatening ways to “force” the debtors to pay back their money.

When you find that the debt collectors are harassing you day and night, what can you do to STOP them?

Here are some useful tips which you can apply to turn the tables but one thing you must keep in mind is DO NOT IGNORE YOUR DEBT. Face it with full courage and make sure you are a responsible debtor.

• First thing first, learn more about the Fair Debt Collections Act. This act is specially designed to protect the debtors from unethical debt collection companies. This act is enforced under the Federal Trade Commission and it prohibits the debt collectors from using abusive and unfair practices to collect payment from debtors. You are advised to know your rights clearly so that you won’t be “bullied” by your creditors.
• In order to stop the irritating phone calls from your creditors, you are reminded to make up your mind which financial solution you would like to take to overcome your problem. For instance, if you have decided to go for debt settlement, you are advised to write a settlement proposal to your lenders to request for debt reduction. For your information, when a debtor has informed the creditors about his or her intention to settle the debt, the creditors are not allowed to call to chase for payment anymore. The debt negotiation process will begin from there.
• Some of the debtors may not be able to express their views confidently when they are facing their creditors or debt collection agents. If this is the case, no worries. You can look for debt settlement firms or legal firms to assist you. Always solve your debt issues through legal way. You can appoint a debt settlement lawyer or a financial consultant to represent you. This professional is responsible to deal with your creditors directly without your involvement. What you need to do is to pay service fee to the professional. According to the Fair Debt Collections Act, once the lawyer informs the creditors about the debtor’s intention to settle the debt, the creditors are not allowed to contact the debtor anymore. They have to deal directly with the representative appointed by the debtor. If the debt collectors refuse to do that, the debtor has the right to sue them.

To sum up, don’t be afraid to face your debt issues and the debt collectors. You have your rights as a debtor. Face all the challenges with positive attitude.