Stopping Collections
When it comes to life’s busy daily schedule, few things are as frustrating as repeated calls from debt collectors. They always seem to call at the worst times; dinnertime, late evening, right at 9 a.m. in the morning and the list goes on.
There are ways you can stop debt collection calls. Bankruptcy will STOP all collection calls.
Fair Debt Collections Act
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was designed to eliminate abusive practices by debt collectors. It’s important to know that if a collector is calling you non-stop, they are in violation of the FDCPA. There are specific regulations in place to prevent them from harassing you. This means that as long as collection agencies operate within the statutes of this law, they are allowed to contact you. But as previously stated, there are things you can do to limit or eliminate debt collection calls.
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy will STOP all collection calls and collection proceedings and lawsuits. Collections calls are a creditor’s first attempt at trying to get you to pay the debt you have defaulted on. Typically, they will continue to call you until they can get a hold of you. Creditors can also send your debt to collection agencies. These collection agencies will also try to call you to see if you can afford to make payments on the debt.
Finally, if they cannot collect, Creditors will send your debt to collection attorneys who will file a lawsuit against you to collect the debt. This lawsuit is called a summons and complaint.
Once you receive a lawsuit you have 21-28 days to answer the lawsuit before the Creditor gets a judgment. After the creditor gets a judgment, they can issue a wage garnishment, bank garnishment, or tax garnishment to collect any monies owed. They can also get a writ of execution which allows a sheriff to come and take certain property that you own. The good news is BANKRUPTCY STOPS ALL OF THESE CALLS, LAWSUITS, GARNISHMENTS, and even the sheriff from taking your personal property.