How to Stop Debt Collection Abuse

The best advice we have for you if you think that a debt collector has over reached his or her authority, is to contact a consumer law attorney in your state. Consumer law attorneys may be found on our attorney directory pages. Once a debt collector knows that you are represented by an attorney he or she cannot legally contact you again. All further communication in connection with your consumer debt must be made with your attorney and not directly with you. If you choose not to contact an attorney right away, which is certainly your right, you do have options available to you that should limit the contact with your debt collectors.

Timing is Important

You should respond to creditor letters and phone calls as soon as possible. When you receive your first letter from a debt collector, make a copy of the letter and the envelope in which it came, as the dates on the letter and the post mark date on the envelope may be different. Under no circumstance should you throw away communications from debt collectors. It is possible that those letters may be used as evidence if you later decide to contact an attorney to sue your debt collector.

There is specific language that all collection letters must contain, as defined by 15 U.S.C. § 1692e and 15 U.S.C. § 1692g. Such language includes the "Mini Miranda" (1692e), which should state something like the following, "This is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose." The Mini Miranda must be written on all initial communication letters and stated verbally if the initial communication is oral. The Mini Miranda is usually located at the very bottom of most collection letters. Language that must be included in collection letters under 15 U.S.C. § 1692g includes the statements:

"Unless the consumer, within thirty days after receipt of the notice, disputes the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be valid by the debt collector;
If the Consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, the debt collector will obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment will be mailed to the consumer by the debt collector;
"Upon the consumer's written request within the thirty-day period, the debt collector will provide the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor." Source: National Consumer Law Center, Fair Debt Collection (5th ed. 2004)

Write a Dispute and Verification Letter to Your Debt Collector

After you have made copies of all your letters, you should begin to draft a dispute and verification letter. You should send a letter to every address on the collection letter. Samples of such letters are coming soon to our website. You should keep your letters short and sweet and do not go into too much detail. All letters that you send to your debt collectors should be sent via certified mail. Certified mail allows you to prove that the collector received your letter. Sending a certified letter is not difficult. If you have questions, you should ask your local post office, as they send out hundreds of certified mail on a weekly basis. Your letter should contain certain elements as stated below.

Your Letter Should Contain or Reference:

The date you write the letter (To prove that you wrote to the collector within the the thirty-day dispute period;
Your collector's file number;
Write to every address that is listed on the collection letter;
A statement that states that you "dispute" this debt;
A statement that you request "verification" of your "alleged" debt.
Keep copies of every letter you send to a debt collector.

The key elements or words that you should include in your letter is "dispute" and "verification." If you state that you dispute and request verification of your alleged debt, your collector may not contact you unless it is to provide verification of your alleged debt.

Speaking to a Debt Collector on the Phone

When you speak to a debt collector on the phone, you should follow a similar procedure as you do when you write to a debt collector. Speaking to collectors on the phone can be daunting, especially when you encounter one who is trying to overreach his or her authority, or who is being verbally abusive to you. Don't worry and do not let the collector get you down. Rather, you should stand up for your rights by stating that you dispute your alleged debt and you request verification of it. You should not need to say anything more to the collector after that point, except that you wish not to be contacted again. You should try to remain as calm as possible and do not overreact, swear, or speak to the collector in a distasteful manner, no matter how the collector speaks to you. This will become more important if you decide to record your conversation. Recording phone conversations with debt collectors should be done with caution. It is always wise to inform the debt collector that you are recording the phone conversation at the beginning of your conversation. To read more on recording phone conversations, please refer to recording phone calls page.