Can a debt collector harass me if I makea timelypayment every month?
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Can a debt collector harass me if I makea timelypayment every month?
A debt collector and I have an agreement on a payment plan and I make my payments on time every month. Can they still call and threaten me for more money? They called and the guy on the phone said I needed to pay more. I told him I couldn’t afford to do that and he wanted me to ask a relative or give him my tax refund. I used my refund on another bill and I don’t have a relative that will give me any money. I told him that and he got really mad and started arguing with me and got very loud and started yelling. Can they keep harassing me like this?
Asked on February 6, 2012 under Bankruptcy Law, Missouri
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
1) If you have a payment plan and you are honoring its terms, he cannot take legal action against you--so long as you keep paying per the plan, he can't do anything.
2) If it's a third party debt collector (e.g. a collections agency collecting a debt not its own), you can definitely make them stop--you can send a written notice requesting that the contact stop and if the collector doesn't, file a complaint with the FCC. Look up the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act for your rights against third-party debt collectors.
3) If it's someone collecting his or her own debt, it's harder to make them stop contacting you; you could try bringing a legal action, seeking a court order for the collector to stop. Or you could simply (politely) hang up when he starts yelling at you--there's no law that says you have to talk to somone who is being rude.
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