Denise Lee Porter

Did you read my previous post  “Your Boss is Not Your Daddy” ? Read it again, I’ll wait. Well can I call it or what? You’ve been laid off and have no fall back position. To top things off, now that you are a payment or two behind on the car or the mortgage or a credit card - your phone rings constantly and it’s not recruiters with lucrative job offers. What can you do besides cower in a closet or turn the ringer off (i mean if you turn the ringer off you may just miss that lone recruiter with the lucrative job offer).

So what’s this all about? Well, I’ve been there more than once, I have walked through the fire for you and I am here to tell you that you have to face your fears or the calls will never stop. Now I’m not going to give you financial advice, there are smarter people than me for that; but I am going to give you some tips that I hope will help you to get out of that funky space that hiding from debt-collection calls puts you in.

1. Answer the phone! If you don’t answer the phone they will continue to call and believe me you don’t want to prolong this experience. Florence Scovel Shinn says when we are prepared to face the lion in our path, he magically disappears.
2. Be nice! Like your Mom probably told you countless times - you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.You attract what you are and if you answer the phone with a growl, the lion will roar. Remember that the person on the other end
   • is just like you
   • might even be deeper in debt than you
   • is probably reading from a script and will be critiqued at the end of the call by someone listening to that recording that is being done for quality assurance purposes
3. Explain your situation calmly and let them know that you want to pay your bill as much as they want you to pay your bill. Often this will lead to them offering you a deal of some sort like eliminating the interest and late charges and letting you pay 50% or less of what you owe. Deals like that are nice if you have the wherewithal to pay, but even if you don’t there may be a hardship program that you qualify for.
4. If they are nasty and ask personal questions or try to make you angry - hang up. Why make yourself sick and cloud your Karma by arguing with them? Just say nicely “Thanks for the call, I’m going to hang up now, have a great day OK?”
5. Learn your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act; one of your rights  is that you can send a letter to the collection agency and the original debtor that says “for petes sake please stop calling me!” Here’s and example (remember to send it certified mail and get a receipt):

Dear Mr Bill Collector Sir,

I am exercising a right granted to me by the Fair Debt Collection Act. I am currently unemployed and cannot  pay the $240.00 per month required to keep this account current . I can pay $20 per month, but given my present circumstances that’s all I can afford .  I have no other property to use to pay this debt, and I cannot borrow anymore than i already have from family and friends.
Please cease all communication with me.
Sincerely,

Broke in Boise

Use this letter as an example only and make sure that you look into what your other rights under the THE FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT are.  Do you have some tips for dealing with bill collectors? Please share!