Collection agencies have the right to contact you if you are not responding to your creditor when they require you to pay your bills. Still, what all can they do before they cross the line to harassment? Here are some things that collection agencies do that may be considered harassment, and that you should counteract with a formal complaint if it occurs.
The only time of the day that you can be called by a collection agency is between 7:00 in the morning and 9:00 at night Monday through Saturday. On Sundays they are only allowed to contact you before 1:00 p.m. or after 5:00 p.m. If you are contacted any other time than during these hours, you are legally allowed to file a formal complaint against that collection agency.
The collection agencies are only allowed to call you at your job if your employer is alright with it. If your employer does not wish for a collection agency to call you while you are at work, then it is against the law for them to do so. If you have a problem with it but they keep calling, ask your employer to contact them and tell them that he disapproves of their calls while you are at work.
It can also be labeled as harassment when a collection agency calls you too often. If a collection agency is calling you too frequently, you are allowed to make a complaint against them. However, you must keep a record of these calls, what day they were made, and what time they called you. If you make a formal complaint, it is up to you to provide this information as evidence of the harassment toward you by the collection agency.
A more specific definition of how often is too often may be more helpful. If a collection calls you more than three times in one week, it may be considered harassment. However, this only applies if they are calling on behalf of the same creditor each time. If you get a call twice from a collection agency because you have not paid your credit card bills, then twice because you have neglected to pay the minimum monthly amount on a loan from the bank, this cannot be considered harassment because they are two separate issues that are being brought to attention.
A collection agency is not prohibited to call people you know that might have information about you. However, they are only allowed to ask for your address and telephone number. Your friends, relatives, and employers are not bound to answer any questions at all, but any information besides your number and address cannot even be inquired of by the collection agency.
TIP: Dispute It!
It is your right, as you know, to dispute anything on your credit report. If you feel that you have been wronged concerning your credit card debt, you should take it up with the credit bureaus and dispute your credit report. You are not doing anything illegal in this, and you know that if collection agencies are calling you about your debt, it is probably listed on your credit report as a negative item.
