When a Credit Card Debt Collector Calls, You Do Not Have to Answer

There is little or no legal weight to a phone call from a credit card debt collector. Anyone can say anything and get away with it. Debt collectors use that to their full advantage. The telephone is their weapon of choice. Once things get reduced to writing, they become toothless.

What matters in court are the written communications, or the lack of them, between a consumer and a credit card debt collector. Mail sent certified return receipt requested further helps the consumer put the debt collector on the defensive.

It is commonly accepted that all credit card debt collectors lie on the telephone. Here are some of the lies they tell over the telephone:

1. They scare you by claiming that a lawsuit has been filed against you in your local court and that a complaint is on its way.

2. Or they may ask you for a small payment, which is well within your means – surely that is acceptable? Not so, if you make this payment then you have legally documented admission to the debt, and made things worse.

3. Debt collectors will threaten to have you arrested. No one can be arrested for a civil matter.

4. They tell you money will be taken from your weekly earnings.

5. They threaten to have your bank account seized.

Each of these lies is punishable with a $1000 fine with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

On the phone, credit card debt collectors attempt to get you to admit to the debt, confirm the debt’s credit card number and share personal information like your Social Security number, your work place phone number, and your bank account information. According to the Credit Card Debt Survival Guide, at this point you should deny and dispute the debt (whether or not it is yours), tell them they are just a voice on the other end of the line. They could be anyone, and you do not share your personal financial information with strangers. Then hang up.

Curiosity should be the only reason for taking one of these calls. If a credit card debt collector calls out of the cold, let them tell you what debt they are calling about, then tell them you have received no written notice from them about the debt and hang up.

You should be aware that as a consumer the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act gives you the right to write to the debt collector to instruct them to stop telephoning you. If they continue, they are breaking the law and are liable to a $1000 penalty for each call made. Consumers are advised to log each phone call to interest a specialist consumer rights attorney in suing the debt collector on a contingency fee basis.