Collection Call Laws And The Principles Behind Them

Creditors and collecting agencies often call up their debtors who are in default or in delay, even
to the point of harassment. It is for this reason that collection call laws have been put into
place. These laws vary from state to state. Despite that, the principles that govern them are
essentially the same. It is time for us to take a look at these principles.

Existing collection call laws are on mainly based on the premise that there was a prior failure
on the part of the debtor to pay the amounts he is due to pay to his creditor. The fact, however,
that there are creditors who call the debts even before they are due and the debtor has not even
defaulted on a single payment make this principle quite subjective. You can say that this is a
way for the creditors to harass their debtors, although they do not see it that way. But the law
dictates that collection calls should only be made to those who are already in default. Common
courtesy also calls for that. 

We can safely make an analogy that collection laws are polite reminders for the debtors to start
repaying their debts since they seem to have forgotten to do so. Should the debtors feel that
they are being harassed by creditors and collection agencies who are making premature collection
calls, the debtors are entitled to be compensated for the stress they have been subjected to.
Most of the collection call laws also require that there first and second collection calls have a
reasonable time difference. During this time lapse, the debtor to whom the calls were made can
acknowledge the debt, repay it or make a commitment or plan to repay it, at which point the calls
should cease. 

Collection calls laws provide that these calls are supposed to be gentle reminders to debtors
that they have forgotten to make the payments when they fell due. Collection calls are not really
what should be used on debtors who are intent on evading their debts altogether. There are other,
more persuasive, legal mechanisms for them. Collection call laws also have a provision that
states that, once the debtor requests the creditor or the collection agency to stop making the
calls, they should immediately do so. There are no hard and fast rules as to what the debtor
should do to make the calls stop. 

It can be something as simple as writing a letter to the creditor or the collection agency,
requesting cessation of the collection calls. This is a way of balancing the odds between the
creditor and the debtor, although the debtor would be subjected to possible consequences if he
asks for the cessation of the calls. But this is basically just so the debtors would not be
harassed by the creditors and collecting agencies, especially if they make the collection calls
constant. That is the basis for the legal provision that the collection calls should be stopped,
once the creditor gets a request to stop making them from the debtor.
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Posted by J. Randall Frier