09 Oct 09 Learn the powers that debt collectors have

Most people have learned about debt collectors by watching movies made by Hollywood. The big, inhumane judge orders a debtor to jail for not paying his debts. He is to stay in jail until he pays his debt. He, of course, can’t get a job and earn money to pay off his debt while in jail. The ending for the debtor is not nice and wasn’t meant to be nice. It was meant to warn people as in fairy tales to learn to live within their means or pay the piper. In real life, debt collectors have powers that might make that Hollywood judge look like a friendly elf.
Debt collectors have the power to go into your personal records and discover all of your assets and means of making money. If you have a job, they have the right to inform your boss that you owe them a debt. Debt collectors have the right to get your telephone number, even if it is unlisted, and to harass you night and day with telephone calls. Some highly unscrupulous debt collectors call repeatedly and don’t bother to tell you who they are. You may not even know that your telephone harasser is a debt collector.
The facts are that debt collectors have the right to post your name on a flyer and send it to places in your neighborhood where you may frequent. Your name and information will be on a flyer identifying you as owing them money or as passing bad checks. The information on those flyers is meant to be confusing and intimidating to the owners of those neighborhood shops. Your name may become associated with imaginary crimes since few people have tried to sue them for slander or for defamation of character as they do not seem to have any legal jurisdiction authority to stop them except for the authority of a bankruptcy judge.
If you want to learn more about the powers that debt collectors have, all you need to do is to call a local lawyer and ask for a brochure on how to stop harassment. All of the tips given have to do with stopping a tactic used by people and agencies who may be trying to get you to pay them what they say you owe the.