One of the most common complaints we hear at Fitzgerald & Campbell, APLC is that our clients are sick and tired of receiving those annoying calls from debt collectors or creditors at all times of the day. Though sometimes these phone calls constitute harassment or other violations of consumer protection laws, other times they are perfectly legal but not at all less bothersome. After all, if you thought you owed the debt and/or had the money to pay it, wouldn’t you?
For this reason, some consumers wonder if they can be contacted by a debt collector only in writing. Under state and federal law, you have the right to only be contacted in writing via the United States Postal Service (snail mail). To accomplish this, simply send a letter to the creditor or debt collector requesting that they only communicate with you in writing, and provide your address. Once this request is received, the collector must stop calling you. If they fail to do so, they may be in violation of the law and liable to you for damages.
While snail mail communications may be less annoying and frequent as the phone calls, you must remember that your debt does not go away, and the time creditors and debt collectors have to try to collect from you or sue you is not prolonged by choosing written communication only.
Similarly, creditors will still have the ability to assess lawful late penalties and interest charges against your account until it is charged-off, and/or sent to a collections service or sold to a third party debt buyer. If this occurs, you will have to notify the new owner of the alleged debt against you of your desire to only be contacted in writing, if you still want to avoid collection phone calls.
You should never ignore communications from a creditor or debt collector, particularly if they have been contacting you for a while. Rather, you should consult with a knowledgeable consumer rights attorney as soon as possible. Creditors and debt collection companies have only a certain period of time to pursue legal action against you for an alleged debt, which means you could be served with a lawsuit sooner rather than later.
If you are being harassed by a creditor or debt collector, fear that they will or already have served you with court papers, you need the help of an experienced debtor rights attorney—like those at Fitzgerald & Campbell, APLC—to review your case and discuss your options with you. Our attorneys have decades of experience representing clients in all types of consumer defense cases and we are here to help you!
Call us today for a free consultation at (844) 431-3851, or email us at info@debtorprotectors.com.