Debt Collection Calls And Debt Settlement
Many debt settlement companies run by non-attorneys will claim that by hiring them that the debt collection calls will stop. From your perspective, this perceived benefit is likely to be of great value because you may be under significant stress as a result of harassing collection calls at home or at work.
The reality is, it is very unlikely that debt collection calls will stop as a result of hiring a non-attorney debt settlement company.
Debt collection activity (by 2nd or 3rd party debt collectors) is governed by the the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or "FDCPA". This Federal Act identifies the rights of debt collectors and debtors in regards to how debts are legally allowed to be collected. However, the FDCPA does not govern debt collection efforts from original creditors. But unlike non-attorney services, a request by an attorney usually results in compliance.
Therefore, if a company claims that they can stop debt collection calls, that is misleading. That company is essentially saying that they can prevent (an original creditor or a 2nd party debt collector) from exercising their legal right.
The only legal way to stop a debt collector from contacting a consumer in an attempt to collect on the debt is to trigger the consumer's Federal right. And the only way to trigger this Federal right is for the debtor to hire an attorney to represent them in the resolution of their debt.
Under the FDCPA, debt collectors must contact your attorney.
Specifically, the FDCPA states that if a consumer hires an attorney to represent them in regards to a specific debt, that the debt collector must contact the attorney, not the debtor, in an attempt to collect on that debt. Therefore, if you hire a non-attorney debt settlement service, then that service provider has no legal means of preventing collection calls from continuing.
The only way a non-attorney debt settlement service provider is going to prevent collection calls is by paying the creditor a settlement payment on your behalf. That means you have to had already accumulated enough money to pay the settlement, and the creditor has to be aware of it.
So, until you have enough money set aside in an escrow account to actually pay the settlement negotiated on your behalf, you should anticipate continuing debt collection calls when using a non-attorney service.
If you do hire an attorney to assist you with settling your debts, and that has proven to be the most effective strategy, then there is a good chance that debt collection activity will be redirected from you to your attorney.
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