How to stop harrassing calls from creditors

Many people are contacting WalletPop.com regarding harassing calls from creditors trying to collect debt payments. Can these calls be stopped and what happens if you do successfully stop the calls? There is a law that protects you from harassment called the "Fair Debt Collection Practices Act."

Let's take a look at your protections and what steps you can take to stop the harassment.

All personal, family and household debts are covered by this act. These debts can include money owed for the purchase of a car, for medical care and any charge accounts. When a creditor wants to collect a debt from you they have the right to contact you in person, by mail, by telephone, by telegram, or by fax, but they can only make these contacts between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. A debt collector may not contact you at work if you tell the collector that your employer disapproves of such contacts. Once the debt collector has talked with you once during the day they cannot contact you any more that day or it's considered harassment. They must actually talk with you. If you let the phone ring and don't take the call they can continue to call the number.

You can stop the calls by contacting the collector in writing and telling the collector to stop. Once the collector receives your letter, he or she may not contact you again except to say there will be no further contact or to notify you that he or she plans to take some specific action, such as file a lawsuit. Collectors can't make threats unless they plan to carry them out. If a collector does take you to court and win, the collector may be able to garnish your wages or seize assets, so be sure you want to risk that lawsuit by telling them to stop.