The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was established to ensure fair debt collection practices. This act is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and private litigants. While the FDCPA is a federal statute, every state in our country has its own debt collection laws. Debt collection harassment cases or complaints are dealt by taking state laws into account.
All debt collection agencies and debt collectors either engaged by them or operating independently in United States of America are guided by debt collection laws enforced by the FDCPA enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to ascertain fair debt collection practices.
Debt collectors often try to use the following tactics to victimize you:
Call your family and friends to find information about you
Harass your family and friends about you
Try to get information about you from your kids specially if they are young
Call you at work place and inform your superiors about your debt
Call you repeatedly on your phones and demand payment
Try to extract your signature on debt papers by coaxing you with nice words
Lie to you and your family members about their identity
Get as many details about you as possible and use them to harass you
Use guilt traps to make you feel guilty about your debts
Make you get tired with their mean methods and thereby you commit payments
Debt collectors attempt to collect on your debt by victimizing you. They often use techniques that target your emotions. Calls to your employer or your neighbor would mean an intrusion to your privacy which they are sure, you would not appreciate. This is one of the reasons why debt collectors call people you would not want to, to make you commit on payment quickly. It is also possible that some debt collectors stoop another level down by targeting your kids at by calling home number when you are not around or reaching them at school. Prudent action and advise should be taught to children to handle should such people speak to them.
To avoid debt collectors' victimization it is best to be wary of the various methods they practice. If in spite of all the measures you take, you do get trapped by debt collectors, you should contact an FDCPA attorney and proceed legally.