Phone calls from debt collectors can be a nightmare. If you are late, missed, or forgot to pay your bill, you may receive this type of call. In many cases, debt collectors abuse and abuse this call. You don't have to just accept this kind of treatment. State laws protect you as a customer so that you are treated properly. If you are being harassed through phone calls from debt collectors, there are several ways to stop this problem.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Talk to a debt collector
Step 1. Don't ignore debt collectors
Answer the call and check if you have debt or not, what you can do to pay off your debt, or maybe if the collection call is a wrong call. Only after you fully understand the reason for the billing call can you properly respond to it. If the billing call is legitimate, you won't be able to continue to ignore it.
The creditors (the party giving the loan) have a legal right to collect their receivables. You can have a bad debt history if you don't pay debts to debt collectors by the due date. Sometimes, you may forget that you owe a credit card company, cooperative, or bank. If you don't answer the call, you may not realize you have a pending debt before you report the collection call
Step 2. Watch out for scammers and unauthorized debt collectors
Often debt collection agencies get the wrong call because there are so many names. People with frequently used names like Budi or Siti often get billing calls that are actually meant for someone else with the same name. Sometimes debt collectors will call everyone in a designated area with the same last name, looking for the person or a family member.
- Be careful with the concept of “stealth debt”. It's an illegitimate debt, but vicious debt collectors keep coming. Stealth debt is usually debt that has already been repaid, but debt collection agencies continue to collect it. If you don't pay the stealth debt, the agent doesn't have any authority to still collect it. But once you pay it, the money is non-refundable, and you can't do anything about it either.
- Debt collectors often threaten to take legal action to collect debt faster. Debt is a matter between citizens and has nothing to do with criminal law. The only situation where non-payment of debt can be criminal is if you borrow money for an untrue reason, such as by identity theft, fraud, or other forms of abuse.
Step 3. Know your rights
Under state law, a debt collector is not allowed to make any threats or use harassing/derogatory words. Tell your debt collector about this. If the debt collector is fake or a fraud, he will usually be afraid.
Having debt can be embarrassing. Most people don't want their family or friends to know they are in debt. State law also doesn't allow debt collectors to talk about your debt to anyone other than your own attorney or with your permission
Step 4. Record your phone conversation
Lawyers love recordings. If debt collectors use excessive methods to intimidate you, start recording the conversation. Inform the debt collector early in the conversation that you are recording the call to provide formal evidence, which can be used as a valid basis for a complaint in accordance with state law. If your phone call has a speaker selection feature, use a regular recorder to record the conversation. Most of today's mobile phones have a recording application or recording feature built in.
Step 5. Don't falsify data
Don't lie and pretend to be someone else. Don't pretend you're dead or have changed addresses. The falsification of this data is an act of violating the law. Debt collection agencies and investigators can easily tell if a statement is false. Since billing calls are often recorded, your lies will also be recorded.
Method 2 of 3: Stopping Billing Calls
Step 1. Pay off your debt
The easiest way to stop a collection call is to pay off your debt, but you need to be careful when you do this. Talk to the collector about the payment plan. Many billers will urge you to set up automatic bill payments. Make sure that you are comfortable with whatever plan you agree to. Fraudulent collection agencies like to set up automated bill payment systems and charge you exorbitant fees for using this service.
Step 2. Send a letter to the collection agency
Under state law, you are allowed to tell debt collectors to stop calling you. Tell them in writing that you prefer to communicate with them by mail instead. Send the letter, including the difference in payments from both the collection agency and creditor via official mail and ask for a receipt that they will need to send to you.
- Examples of formal letters you can see on the internet.
- Make sure that you keep a photocopy of your letter. Written communication is more profitable for you, because you have all the evidence of the conversation written in it, while telephone communication is only recorded at certain times.
- If the creditor is still contacting you after you've submitted a written application, you can provide a formal letter to "stop and withdraw from collection". Find a consumer attorney who can write such a letter. If the problem persists, you can even sue the collection agency.
- Debt collectors are also prohibited from contacting you while you are at work.
Step 3. Call an attorney
There are many consumer attorneys who specialize in debt collection. They can help you if you are in debt or if a collector is unlawfully harassing you. These lawyers will either charge you a fee or will take a percentage of the proceeds of the lawsuit brought on your behalf. Debt collection laws are different from other laws in that they usually state clearly how much money you will receive if you win the case. In the US, this can range from around IDR 65,000,000 per individual case to IDR 6,500,000,000 per group claim.
The first thing an attorney will do is look at the statutory provisions regarding the time limit for borrowing your debt. Past debts accrued decades earlier or by deceased family members are sometimes the cause of collection calls. Loan deadline laws apply in various locations. If the law indicates that the time limit for borrowing has expired, you can be released from your debt. Even though a debt collector may try to catch up with you, you don't have to pay it by law. If this is the case, if you wish not to pay it, you can use a “stop and back off billing” letter. Remember, you can have a bad credit history for a longer period than the statutory borrowing term
Step 4. Ask others about ways they can successfully stop debt collection calls
They may find other, better ways of dealing with certain agents. Every collection agency is different. Sometimes they give you a requirement to fill out certain forms, while others require a letter. Instead of trying to find a way on your own, it's better to ask someone else for help.
Step 5. If you live in the US, report the matter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Report collectors to the FTC telephone service. These agencies are usually slow to deal with issues like this, but if they receive enough reports about a particular agency, they will take it seriously.
Method 3 of 3: Setting the Phone to Block Billing Calls
Step 1. Set up your phone call filter
Only after you are tired of all the options can you consider blocking these billing calls. Most telephone companies offer “unknown call rejection.” If your phone screen does not recognize the caller ID, your phone will not ring. Instead, the calling party will be dealing with the telephone company's service system, which will do the following:
- Ask the caller to identify himself.
- Ask the caller to leave a short voice message that will be played to you and give you the opportunity to accept or reject the call, or tell the caller to call back by displaying his/her identifying information.
- This method will filter out most of the debt collection calls.
Step 2. Set your phone system on “WhiteList-Only”
- Numbers that are not on your approved list (“WhiteList”/”Whitelist”) will not be able to reach your phone. Collection agencies often use fake caller IDs to get you to answer the call. However, a Whitelist in your landline settings will still work, because landlines will not accept unknown phone numbers.
- Whitelist service or the like can be obtained through your telephone company at a cost of around Rp. 650,000 which is paid once (not monthly). Another option is to turn on conventional telephone service on the “VolP” (Voice over IP) feature. It requires an internet connection, and will work best with any type of broadband connection (a dial up connection type will not be sufficient for this function).
- There are various providers of VolP for the home, which provide a Whitelist setup for a fee of IDR 110,000 per month. If you are someone who travels a lot, you can set up a “home PBX” using “Asterisk”, an open software for phones that usually requires a separate computer. “PBX in a Flash” is one of the “Asterisk” programs and is perfect for amateur computer users.
Step 3. Set your phone system to run “Blacklist”, which contains unwanted numbers
In contrast to the White List, which is also called the “Green List”, the Black List blocks all calls from the numbers on it.
