What Do The Debt Collectors Want?

If you receive a call from a debt collector, it means you have an unpaid bill – that has been in arrears for possibly a few months. If you have ignored the letters from the company that you owe money to, and have made no attempts to contact them or endeavor to pay the bills, you are considered a bad debt.

Debt collection agencies are hired by a company to collect the money owed to them. Debt collectors are more aggressive in their efforts, as they know that you have in all likelihood been avoiding any contact with the company, and are likely to ignore their efforts as well. Yes, at this point you are no longer considered a customer, you are a debtor. This is not a badge of honor and it is a label you should do everything you can to avoid.

Debt collectors are often permitted to report your information to the credit reporting agencies. These are the people responsible for tracking your bill-paying habits. Your credit record is used to indicate how good you are at paying your bills, and is referred to by mortgage companies, car dealers and other finance companies to determine your credit-worthiness.

If debt collectors cannot find you at your last known address or telephone number, they use a variety of tools to locate you. So don’t think that if you move you are home free. As annoying as it may be, debt collectors will use any means to find you, no matter how humiliating it may be for you, even calling your employer or canvassing the neighborhood to find you and do what they have been hired to do. Many collection agencies only earn their fee when they have collected money from the debtor, so it is in their interest to do everything possible to find you and convince you to pay the debt. One of the reasons they are so determined to find you is that they only get paid for their services once you have paid off the debt.

Because there are Federal regulations governing the debt collection industry, their treatment of you should follow a particular code or guideline, although of course there are some agencies who will flaunt these regulations. If there is some confusion about the debt, either the amount or whether it actually is your debt, you should contact the company immediately. The debt collectors may be able to assist with sorting this type of situation out with you. In order to protect your rights, make copies of all communication between the three parties, and keep notes on telephone calls and meetings wherever possible.

If the agency is using threatening tactics against you, even if you do owe the money, you should immediately report them to the Better Business Bureau. This is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the federal law that guides the practices of the debt collection industry.

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