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Debt consolidation mortgage: ‘home solutions’ for integrating arrears
Credit card debts, auto loans debts, secured loans debts, unsecured loans debts – debts of all sorts and types registered against your name. It is hardly a very promising situation. Debt is an obligation from which you can’t turn away. It is...
Debt Free: Sound Like a Far-Off Dream?
What is it you wanted to get from being debt free? Peace?
Being debt free is truly possible. The hard part is changing our habits. There are many agencies, courses and books available both online and locally to help you to reach your goal of...
Small Business Tax Deduction - Write-Off Bad Debts
Practically every small business has receivables that it cannot obtain from clients. If your small business doesn't have any such receivables, consider yourself lucky. For those small businesses that suffer from uncollected receivables, solace can...
Stay Debt Free this Xmas - Top 10 Tips
Xmas can be a financially stressful time for many people and that takes the fun out of the festive season. The funny thing about Xmas is it occurs every year and at the same time every year! So with a little bit of planning you can take the stress...
Wake Up From Your Credit Card Debt Nightmare
Are your credit card debts giving you nightmares? If yes read on
and see if we can save you some money and help you sleep better
at night. It is so easy to get yourself into debt, as all these
credit card companies seem to be throwing these cards...
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3 Dangerous FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) Myths
Think you’ve got the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) figured out? Don’t be so sure. While nothing can take the place of a lawyer’s advice, if you’ve at least overcome these three dangerous myths about the law, you may save yourself a lot of money and heartache.
FDCPA Myth 3: the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is the only law governing collections
Fact: The FDCPA is a US federal law. Each state has additional laws that govern fair debt collection practices. Some portions of those laws may have been invalidated by the federal law. But, as a general rule, state laws are valid if they provide greater protections (or restrictions, depending on your point of view), and invalid if they allow debt collectors too much leeway. Meanwhile, other countries have their own laws, which may or may not apply if the collector or debtor is currently located outside the US.
Reality: it is important to keep in mind all the relevant state laws. Those state laws may include the laws of up to three or even more states: the debtor’s current state of residence, business, and/or work; the debt collector’s state; and the state of any outside collection agency. The multiplicity of laws is just one reason why lawyers are so often brought into the collections process, especially when the amounts are large.
Debt collections that cross national borders are notoriously complicated, whether it’s a US collector seeking payment from a foreign national or vice versa. That’s just one reason that businesses that have a large customer base in another country will often open a branch office there.
FDCPA Myth 2: if a collector violates fair debt collection practices, the debt is thrown out.
Fact: it’s true that unfair debt collection practices will likely cost the collector the judge’s sympathy if the collections go to court. But the Act does not say that the debt itself will necessarily be
invalidated.
That may be why some unscrupulous collectors still violate the law. Of course, as already noted, breaking the law is not a good idea, since the collectors will lose much if not all of whatever moral standing they might have had. Besides, who wants to be sued for damages—especially by the person who still owes you money?
Reality: it’s in the best interest of anyone who owes money to document any FDCPA violations, and in the best interest of debt collectors to follow fair debt collection practices scrupulously.
The Number-One FDCPA Myth: the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is hard to follow
Fact: the Act’s requirements are nothing more than common sense and basic courtesy. The days of debtors’ prison or publishing debtors’ names in the newspaper are over, and threats are strictly for the mafia. Any attempt to collect a debt through humiliation or intimidation, or anything hinting at intimidation or humiliation, should be avoided.
Reality: The vast majority of violations could have been avoided if the debt collectors had simply put themselves in the other person’s shoes and thought about how they would feel if they were treated in the same way. This also means that it is not in fact easy for debtors to get out of their obligations by turning the tables on the organizations to which they owe money.
In short, we’ve come a long way since the days when debtors might have ended up in the stocks, and the FDCPA is largely to thank. But if you take fair debt collection practices lightly, you may find your troubles make a day in the stocks look pleasant.
About the Author
Joel Walsh is a regular contributor to Collection Agency Information (http://www.collection-agency-information.com). Find out the inside story on debt and collections with secrets gathered from real collection agencies: http://www.collection-agency-information.com/collection-agency-articles/collection-agency-articles.html
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| Advertisements Promising Debt Relief May Be Offering Bankruptcy |
| Cautions consumers about ads in newspaper, magazine and telephone directories that offer quick fixes for debt problems. |
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| Special report: debt relief | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited |
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| William Brewer |
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| Economic Policy and Debt - The Enhanced HIPC Initiative |
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| Debt relief - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Debt relief is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. ... |
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| Debt Analyzer, Debt Reduction Software, Home Page |
| Debt Elimination at its best! Potential savings of hundreds or thousands of dollars! Build debt reduction, timed elimination or consolidation schedules. |
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| Debt Relief - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum |
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| What debt relief means for Africa | csmonitor.com |
| This weekend's $40 billion debt cancellation deal could spark major improvements in the lives of the world's poorest people. |
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