Fending Off Credit Card Debt Collectors Begins With A Guiltless Attitude
November 20, 2009 by Matthew Highlander
Filed under Credit
Every day more consumers fall behind on their credit card debt payments and leave themselves open to being threatened by credit card debt collectors. Some people simply cannot afford to pay their growing minimum-monthly credit-card debt payment(s), as a result they begin to feel hopeless and guilty.
Some consumers in this situation realize they do not have to suffer this financial death by guilt.
The first step to overcoming that guilt, according to the Credit Card Debt Survival Guide, is disputing and denying the debt any credit card debt collector, other then the original creditor, calls about. Not admitting to an unsecured credit card debt and denying it is a legal strategy which can be compared to invoking the Fifth Amendment. It is not an indication of character. All this means is that the other side will have to prove that they have a case against you.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act requires the credit card debt collector to send the consumer a statement saying;
1] Unless the consumer disputes the validity of the debt, the debt will be assumed to be valid by the debt collector and
2] The consumer must notify the debt collector in writing within thirty days that the debt is disputed.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act also allows the consumer to notify the credit card debt collector in writing that the consumer refuses to pay the debt and that the consumer wishes the debt collector to cease further communication with the consumer with respect to the debt.
If a consumer follows this advice and refuses to admit to the credit card debt, by disputing it and denying it, and then writes to the credit card debt collector asking them to cease communications regarding the debt, that may cause the debt collector to decide to collect from other easier-to-deal-with consumers. For them to proceed with the task of recovering this debt, they will need to prove the debt exists by getting copies of original documents from the credit card company and sending them on to the consumer.
In the case of an unsigned and unsecured credit card debt, the credit card debt collector first has to get the consumer to admit their guilt and that they owe this debt. How this first debt collection communication from the debt collector is handled is important. The debt collector is likely to move on to a consumer who requires less work, if they are faced with a denial, a dispute of the debt and instructions to cease communications.
Matt Highlander researched the Credit Card Debt Survival Guide for consumers seeking to educate themselves about credit card debt relief. Matt Highlander is a contributing writer.
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