Owing a significant amount of debt can be overwhelming. It can lead to significant stress in many areas of your life, especially if you are also experiencing harassment from creditors and debt collectors. While phone calls and other types of contact from creditors are normal, there are times their behavior goes over the line and violates your rights.
Harassment from creditors is not only stressful and frustrating, but it is also illegal. You may think this is something you have to deal with because you owe a significant amount of debt, but this is not true. No matter how much you owe or what types of debt you have, you do not have to put up with threats and other types of harassment. You can speak out against this treatment and seek a beneficial outcome to your current financial situation.
How can you know if it's harassment?
Simply getting phone calls from creditors and letters in the mail likely does not count as harassment. If you are in significant debt, it may be helpful to learn about the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which protects your rights as a consumer. This legislation limits what debt collectors can do and how they can treat the people from whom they are trying to collect payment.
The FDCPA prohibits harassing treatment, making false statements to consumers and engaging in unfair practices. Examples of what may qualify as illegal behaviors from creditors include the following:
- Threatening violence or physical harm
- Lying about who is calling
- Lying about who they work for
- Threatening to release your private information
- Calling you at work after you asked them to stop
- Trying to collect more than what you truly owe
If you are the victim of creditor harassment, you may have the option to move forward with legal action against the collection agency or other parties.
Take back control
If you owe a lot of debt that you cannot manage on your own, it may be time to think about your legal options. Bankruptcy may not seem like a practical step, but it can offer you an organized way to deal with your debt once and for all. One of the benefits of seeking bankruptcy protection is that it will halt continued contact from creditors.
Before you make any important decisions that can affect your future, you will find it beneficial to discuss your situation with a knowledgeable New Jersey legal professional and learn about all of the options available to you.
