It’s happening more often in today’s economy than before, or at least it seems that way, credit card companies coming after debtors who don’t owe them anything. Have you had it these illegal debt collection practices happen to you? Are you receiving phone calls, letters and even lawsuits demanding the payment of debt that you don’t owe?
Tips on what you can do to stop the harassment:
- Tell the debt collector that you do not owe the debt. Tell them over the phone and send a letter.
- Check your credit report. Is there a report of credit card debt that you don’t owe? Send a letter to the credit bureau and a letter to the original creditor telling them to remove the debt because you do not owe it. You may also want to demand that the original creditor help you resolve this issue, by telling them to inform the debt collector that you in fact do not owe the debt.
- While you are resolving this disputed debt, you can tell the debt collector to not contact you. Under federal law, if you request that a debt collector stop calling you, they must stop. This rule does not apply to the original creditor.
- If the credit card company has already filed a lawsuit against you for the payment of this debt you don’t owe, take decisive action to protect your assets. You may want to keep only minimal cash in the bank until the issue is resolved. Make sure you show up to court. And bring with you any proof you have that this debt does not belong to you. For example, is it the wrong name, account number, address? Whatever proof you have bring it with you to court.
- If the harassment continues despite your best efforts and despite proving that you do not owe the debt, you may want to file a lawsuit against the credit card company.