How to deal with a collection agency. Tips for dealing with collection agencies. Collection agencies hold very little power in my opinion generally speaking. A collection agency legally has the power to...
Collection agencies hold very little power in my opinion generally speaking. A collection agency legally has the power to contact the consumer and to attempt to collect the debt. Those attempts can occur by mail, telephone or otherwise. The consumers really have all the power because the consumer can at any time determine that the consumer is tired of contacts by the collection agency and then send a cease and desist letter. So in that sense really, collection agencies have little power and again we're talking about legally. My firm gets involved when in our view a collection agency steps over the line and decides it will ignore a cease and desist letter or they will harass a consumer in various ways.
When our firm gets involved, we assert whatever claim the consumer has which occurs much of the time in the filing of a law suit, sometimes in negotiations with a collection agency without the necessity to file suit. Initially if a lawsuit is filed what happens is the collection agency is being served with process. The vast majority of the time after a collection agency is served with process, it ceases contact with our clients. Collection agencies will do that for a couple of reasons. First, the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act requires a collection agency to cease communication with the consumer if the collection agency knows the consumer is represented by the attorney regarding the debt which the agency is attempting to collect. And then secondly, if a collection agency is being sued and served with process, generally, they will obtain legal counsel and, in my view, competent legal counsel would advise a collection agency to cease all contacts. So, filing of a lawsuit does not give the consumer ultimate relief. Much of the time it results in at least immediate relief from the telephone calls. Now we file suit to serve the client's claims but again the consumers can obtain some secondary benefits due to legal counsel or advice given to the collection agency and the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act.
