Dirty Tricks That Collection Agencies Play And How To Avoid Them
The fifth book of Plato’s Republic, written in Greece in the fifth century, B.C. includes a reference to a riddle in which a man who is not a man threw a stone which is not a stone at a bird which is not a bird sitting on a tree which is not a tree. The solution to the riddle is that a eunuch threw a block of pumice at a bat sitting on a fennel plant. The answer is not very satisfying to modern readers of English, but even more puzzling and more maddening is when a creditor which is not a creditor collects but does not collect a debt which is not a debt from a borrower who is not a borrower. Collection agencies operate in a gray area of legal loopholes and contradictions, and their usual practice is to annoy and stress out consumers who are already stressed out and don’t have the time or energy to exercise their rights and figure out the best course of action. The best way to protect your financial interests and avoid an endless battle with collection agencies is to contact a Miami debt lawyer as soon as you start getting correspondence from collection agencies.
The Grace Period Which Is Not a Grace Period
The date of the first letter a collection agency sends you about a debt it has bought marks the beginning of a 30-day grace period in which the collection agency may not take further action to seek payment and during which you may request verification of where the collection agency got the debt. For example, it might be a debt that you have already settled with the original creditor or to which you have made partial payments. Meanwhile, during the grace period, the collection agency still has the right to notify credit reporting agencies of the debt. This means that the debt can show up on your credit reports, and bring down your credit score, before you even technically owe it.
The Settlement Which Is Not a Settlement
Since collection agencies buy debt from creditors at dirt cheap prices and then make as much money as they can from pursuing payment from the original borrowers, they will often accept settlements that are much lower than the face value of the debt. The good news is that you can settle debts for a reasonable price with collection agencies, but the bad news is that, even after you have settled, the collection agency can then sell the remaining balance to another collection agency. It sounds dystopian, but it is true, so your best protection against abusive practices by collection agencies is to engage the services of a debt lawyer, whether or not you have already made payments to the collection agency.
Contact a South Florida Debt Lawyer About Coping With Collection Agency Sleaziness
A South Florida debt lawyer can help you if collection agencies are contacting you about old debts that you have already settled. Contact Nowack & Olson, PLLC in Plantation, Florida to discuss your case.
Source:
smallbusiness.chron.com/pay-collection-agency-before-affects-credit-56396.html
