Fair Debt Collection Rules Keep Bill Collectors Honest
Have you ever thought how nice it would be to get along without credit? No bank loans, no credit cards, no mortgages! It’s not likely to happen any time soon, but it is still a goal worth striving for. Especially in times like these when jobs are scarce and money is tight.
Even those of us who still have jobs feel the impact of the economic downturn. Many of our friends and family members are affected in a real way, and that hurts close to home.
In times like this we count ourselves lucky if we have been able to hold onto our jobs. But still it is inevitable that we will not very optimistic about the immediate future. There’s just no telling how long one’s own employer will be able to hold on before they start to make cuts. That certainly makes you wonder if it might not be better to get rid of those credit cards and live more realistically.
Using credit cards and lines of credit is very easy when times are good. With a steady job and source of good income keeping ahead of the payments is not a big deal for most of us. At least that’s what we tell ourselves. Meanwhile we get deeper and deeper in debt.
Sure there’s always the excuse that you need a batch of credit cards for an emergency. The problem is, living so close to the line turns even a mild financial setback into an emergency. There is a great temptation to use that credit for things you would otherwise not buy. So much for your emergency fund.
Then if a real crunch comes, a real emergency and we lose our job, or our business take a down-turn, what happens? We use our credit cards and lines of credit to tide us over. And when everything is maxed out, what then?
Of course cutting up all our cards isn’t going to happen in most cases. However, just think of the savings on interest and late payments that could be saved if we used fewer cards and were more prudent with our credit buying. At least then, if hard times come knocking, we’d be on a more level playing field, rather than standing in a huge hole of debt.
Once you’ve fallen behind to the point that debt collectors start calling, then you know something has to be done. Some of those debt collectors can be very aggressive, and it can be very unsettling to have to deal with them every day. At that point is important to realize that while being in debt can be uncomfortable, it is not the end of the world. There are limits on the tactics that debt collectors can use to try to squeeze money out of you. Those limits are defined in the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act – the FDCPA.
You can also pay a visit to a fair debt attorney who specializes in stopping debt collection harassment. They won’t be able to erase your debt, but they can make the harassment stop and can even get you compensation from the very agencies that are trying to collect from you.
This entry was posted on Monday, September 28th, 2009 at 5:50 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.