Web Winners:
We're not talking about blame here, because if you are on the receiving end of calls from debt collectors, you need help, fast. These Web sites give insight into the often-frightening process.
We're not talking about blame here, because if you are on the receiving end of calls from debt collectors, you need help, fast. These Web sites give insight into the often-frightening process.
Fair collection.
The Federal Trade Commission outlines the law, the meaning of terms such as "debtor" (that's you, if you owe anyone money), and the legal limitations on debt collectors. For example, the site explains that in most cases, "the collector may not tell anyone other than you and your attorney that you owe money."
The various offices of state attorneys general and the FTC are the places to file complaints about debt collectors. Here is a full list of attorneys general and contact information:
www.naag.org/attorneys_general.php
And here's the FTC complaint page:
www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
Zombie fighting.
The wikiHow site is a growing collection of how-to guides. Virtually anyone can contribute. So, like the wildly popular Wikipedia, you've got to be cautious about what you find. Given that, there's interesting advice on how to deal with aggressive collectors who go after so-called zombie debt - loans considered so far gone that the original lenders have ditched them. Major personal-finance categories on the site include banking, budgeting and investing.
Here's the page on how to deal with "zombie debt."
Gone too far.
The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse offers a fact sheet on debt-collection practices and provides some guidelines for what to do if you think a debt collector has gone too far. Keeping careful records - getting and putting everything in writing - is extremely important, but easy to forget about when you are under pressure from collectors.
Confessions.
Author Fred Williams wrote a book about working as a debt collector. Here's a scary article he wrote about the experience, from Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.