What to Do When the Debt Collection Calls Start
With so many people deep in credit card debt, losing their jobs, and falling behind on their credit card and mortgage payments, the debt collectors that work for the credit card companies are going to be calling you just about every day from morning till night trying to collect payments. So what do you do about them? Do you avoid them? Do you answer them? Do you change your number? Just how do you deal with debt collectors and debt collection calls?
One popular tactic that you may have heard of is to send a cease and desist letter to your creditors to tell them to not contact you by phone. For many years this tactic was effective but it should no longer be your first line of defense. When you send a cease-and-desist letter to your creditors you stand out amongst all the other consumers who are behind on their payments and you make it seem like you know what you are doing. In many cases the creditor will flag your account for more aggressive debt collection and possibly lawsuits.
Whereas if you stay under the radar and just take the debt collection calls you will not stand out and just will be like credit card company and start the debt negotiation and debt settlement process because you are smart consumer and want to use debt negotiation to settle your debts instead of bankruptcy or other options.
So how do you deal with the collection calls when they start at eight o’clock in the morning and do not end until 8 PM at night or later? Well for one you do not ever answer a debt collection call live. You have them leave a message to call you back and then you call them back when it’s convenient for you. They are going to be calling you five, 10, 20 times a day there is no way you can answer each one of those calls or would you want to. You have enough stress already with finding money to pay your bills that you don’t need to have more stress by answering 10 debt collection calls a day.
I would recommend you get a prepaid cell phone or a second cell phone line and give this number to your creditors to call. Remember to only contact your creditors from this new number because they can track any other number you call them from. Make sure you turn the ringer off on this new phone so you won’t hear the calls either. Make sure you delete all the other numbers from your profile so they will only have this number to contact you.
This will provide you with much needed relief from debt collectors. This will allow you to deal with them on your own terms when you are ready. If they ever do leave a message make sure you check it in a timely manner. You also want to be proactive about staying in touch with your creditors and debt collectors. Do not avoid them because this can make the situation worse.
