Stop Bill Collectors!
The No Bull Guide to Outwitting Bill Collectors
Janice Strong
SmashWords Edition
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Copyright 2010 Janice Strong
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Sample Cease and Desist Letter
Cease and Desist Tracking Form
Write Letters to the Credit Bureaus
Credit Bureau Contact Information
Appendix A: FDCPA In Plain English
Appendix C: Sample Cease and Desist Letters
Letter to stop calls to your employer
Letter to stop Cell Phone Calls
Letter to stop Work and Cell Phone Calls
A 5-Day, failsafe, easy-to-follow plan that will stop harassing phone calls and letters in less than 5 days, guaranteed.
5 vital facts you didn’t know about cease and desist letters.
Cease and desist letters tailored to your specific situation.
FCDPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act): full content in plain English.
3 ways to stop bill collectors from finding out your new phone number.
Stop bill collector calls using the “Ol’ Switcheroo.”
The foolproof way to “change” your address so that bill collectors can never contact you again.
Day 1
If you want to stop creditors from calling, you’re going to have to pick up the phone and talk to them. That may seem counterintuitive, but you–like them–are going to follow a script that’s guaranteed to have them stop calling you. Peace is just a few phone calls away.
If you are being harassed by collection agencies, you’re not going to know who they are unless you talk to them. That debt you once owed Citicard, or Bank of America, or Discover, has long since been sold to a collections agency. That’s right: sold. Don’t be fooled into thinking that when you are sending money to a credit collections company that you are paying off your original debt. You’re not: you are paying someone else (the collection agency), who purchased that debt (from your original creditor or even another collection agency) for pennies. You’ll have no idea who that company is (or where, exactly, that company is located) until you talk to them.
Step 1: Turn your ringer on and pick up the phone. When you get a collections call, follow this script exactly:
“I’d like to send you something in the mail. May I have your address?”
Don’t let them enter you into a conversation. Don’t let them pin you down to an amount, a payment schedule, or anything else. If they don’t give you the information, repeat the question, and then ask to speak to a supervisor. The collections agent won’t want to refer a customer who is offering to “send something in the mail” to a supervisor. He’ll give you the address.
Step 2: Write down the address. Say: “You will have something within the week” and hang up.
Step 3: If the same agency calls back (they might, especially if it’s one of the bigger collection agencies known for hounding consumers), tell them you just sent them something. And hang up again.
Step 4: Repeat the above steps (1 through 3) as many times as necessary. Sure, you’ll be wasting a lot of time speaking to collections agents, but you’ll have a list of names of creditors to send those cease and desist letters to in day 2 (Cease and desist notice serve as a legal way to stop creditors from calling you for the price of a postage stamp and a couple of bucks extra at the post office).
Note: If you use an answering machine, make sure you promptly return the phone call and start at Step 1.
Caution: Never give the bill collector any personal information. Don’t “verify” any information, like your name, date of birth, account number or social security number. Ask for their address, and that’s it. If they won’t give it to you, politely ask for a supervisor. If that doesn’t work, call them back. You’ll get a different agent—one who will likely be more helpful.
Use the tracking sheet on the next page to keep track of where and when creditors contact you.
Day 2
Writing an effective collection agency letter seems like a daunting task. However, armed with a few facts about fair debt collection law, you really only need to write one paragraph to stop all collection calls and mailings dead in their tracks.
These letters can be handwritten, but if you have more than a few creditors you’ll probably find it easier to print off a few copies. (Don’t have a printer? Try your local library—our local library allows you to print out 6 sheets a day for free: that’s 12 letters if you divide the page in half.)