More than illness, poverty, or public speaking, people in debt fear the debt collector and the collection call. All too many families continue to make payments on unsecured credit card debts, not to further a well-thought out plan to get out of debt, but just to keep the collectors off the phone.
From a legal perspective, the collection options of credit card issuer are expensive and time consuming. That’s why they resort to the phone, first. Cheap, easy, and quick, because they employ these three tactics to get you to send them money they couldn’t reach otherwise:
- Fear
- Shame
- Annoyance
Once you understand their weapons, you can disarm them by refusing to rise to the bait.
Fear works because most consumers don’t understand the legal process. A collector cannot unilaterally put a lien on your house, take your wages, or invade your bank account. To do any of those things, even if permitted by state law, the collector must get a judgment from the appropriate court. The route to taking your assets must go through a courtroom first.
A law suit is begun by serving the defendant (you) with notice of the action and an opportunity to defend the suit. That’s what “due process” is all about: notice and an opportunity to dispute the claim. Due process takes time and requires the collector to spend money on fees and lawyers. If, instead, the collector can scare you about what he can do if you don’t pay, it’s cheaper. Be unafraid.
Shame works on how you feel about yourself and on the fear of being exposed to others as deficient. Being the recipient of a shame tirade is painful, if you assume that the collector speaks the truth. But theydon’t, of course. They simply know that most people already feel bad about not being able to pay and they fan those flames of unhappiness. You give the collector the upper hand if you assume that they speak the truth. In fact, they lie and lie regularly, repeatedly, and shamelessly.
Don’t let your self image be defined by someone who is badgering you to do something that may not be in your best interest. Hold tight to who you know you are and don’t let a collector shake that knowledge. Understand that it violates the law for a collector to talk to family, friends or neighbors about your debts.
Annoyance works because we’ve grown accustomed to answering when the phone rings. With auto dialers, a collector can, with minimal effort, interrupt your home life or even your work life and attempt to force a difficult conversation on you on their schedule. Part of their threat is that they’ll call you three times a day, every day, until you pay.
The solution here is obvious: don’t answer the phone. You can change your number, get voicemail, or caller ID. Unhook yourself from the idea that the outsider can command that you drop what you are doing to talk to them on their schedule. If the caller is a collector, and not the original creditor, federal law gives you the right to insist that the collector stop contacting you. Some states have extended that right to cover the original creditor as well.
The debt collector’s weapons are no more than pop guns if you arm yourself with knowledge beforehand.
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