ATTENTION CONSUMERS NEVER!
give a debt collector your banking or credit card information.
They will take much more than you authorize.
NEVER
do “checks by phone” as debt collectors could empty your bank account.
You would have little recourse.
NEVER
send them money via the Western Union.
BEWARE
Paying a collector will NOT get an amount removed from
your credit report. They do NOT have that ability.
RECORD
conversations with collectors (where legal) so they can be
held accountable if they break the law.
NEVER
Do anything based only on a phone call. A legitimate collector
should be willing to put agreements in writing BEFORE payment is made.
UNDER THE FDCPA IT IS ILLEGAL FOR COLLECTORS TO:
Imply that failure to pay the debt could result in arrest, imprisonment, or garnishment of wages;
Call consumers at work when they knew the consumers’ employers prohibited such calls;
Talk with third parties, including neighbors, children, and employers, for purposes other than acquiring location information about consumers, without consumers’ consent;
Cause the telephone to ring, or engage a person in telephone conversations, repeatedly or continuously, with the intent to annoy, abuse, or harass a consumer;
Threaten to take action — such as filing a lawsuit — when they did not intend to do so;
Call consumers at times or places that they knew or should have known were inconvenient;
Fail to notify consumers of their right to dispute and obtain verification of their debts, and to get the name of the original creditor
Continue to try to collect debts after consumers disputed them in writing, and before verifying the debts using obscene or profane language.