What Debt Collectors Don't Want You to Know

If you're like the average American today, you have debt to pay. You've bought things, taken them home, used them, and are still paying for them. According to MSN.com, as of 2004 the average American household has $8000.00 in credit card debt. To add to that about 43% of American families spend more money than they earn. Amidst it all debt, more specifically debt collection has become big business and a nuisance to many that owe debt. More debt means more debt collection companies, means more debt collectors calling. Once you know some of the straight facts regarding debt and debt collection practices you can arm yourself against these nuisances.

The most important thing that one should know is that you can't go to jail over your credit card debt. Time after time collections agents try to use scare tactics and instill fear into a debtor to make them pay up quick. The fact of the matter is that there are only two things that someone you owe a debt to can do. They can either ask (harass) you for the money or sue you for the debt plus any fees and finance charges accrued according to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This brings us up another big annoyance that comes with debt collectors, the phone calls themselves.

The minute you fall behind in payments you can bet your phone will start ringing off the hook and not stop at that. You'll start paying more attention to those TV and radio commercial advertisements by companies claiming they can stop the collection calls. Truth is they absolutely can but you can too. Its just as simple as sending the collections agency a letter telling them to stop calling you. Once you do this, the only thing the collections agents can do is call you to let you know that they will no longer be contacting you by phone as said in Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. If you don't know what to say in your letter you can do a google search for "free stop collection calls letters" and get some free examples and other tips on how to send it.

Another thing you hear in those debt settlement company ads is that they can settle your debt for a fraction of what you owe. This is because debt is negotiable. Contrary to popular belief debt has nothing to do with the law in a sense. Just like you can't go to jail because of your credit card debt, if you can get a company that you owe money to accept an amount under what you owe and calls the debt settled then thats that. Of course you'll want to take certain precautions to making sure they keep their word, like getting any agreement or promises in writing. Again, you can google search "free debt negotiating tips" and get more info on doing this.

A well guarded secret that debt collectors are definitely afraid of becoming common knowledge is that credit card collection accounts can be easily removed from your credit report. When you receive a copy of your credit reports and decide to dispute those credit card collections accounts contained in your report, there's a good chance they can be deleted. Whether this is ethical or not is up for debate. It is your right through the Fair Credit Reporting Act to request an investigation or dispute items in your report you question. If there's an average 70% of all credit reports containing mistakes against consumers, one may almost consider it fair to return the favor. This can also be used as leverage for debt negotiation. Keep in mind that this will not erase any debt that you truly owe.

If nothing else keep in mind that debt is big business. An independent economic study reported that debt collection agencies recovered $39 billion in 2005. By getting informed and educated you can fight back against unfair practices. In no way is this article meant to get you out of debt you rightfully owe. One should always make every effort to pay back your debts that you create. After all, would you like it if someone owed you money and made every effort to get out of paying you?