What are a debtors rights when dealing with aggressive collection agencies?

Question

I had a collection agency call me today about a debt that I was unaware I owed. Turns out to be a $1400 debt. Apparently the doctor's office had been sending bills to an old address of mine and I wasn't getting them. The collection agent started off calmly enough, if a bit elusive. It was tough to get information from her, but after a heated conversation she agreed to fax me the information. She told me I was being "difficult" when I asked if she could send the info through the mail. When I told her there was no way I would be able to give her the full amount today, that is when she turned on the aggression. She told me that she was doing me a favor, that she was just trying to help me keep this off of my credit report (which I told her that it was my understanding that by the time any debt reached a collection agency it would have already been reported to the credit bureau - but she insisted that it hadn't hit my credit report yet). She said if I would come up with the money by the 29th (of August or September, I'm not sure which, but my guess is August. Yay for giving me 2 days to come up with it) then they would settle for a 20% discount. I told her that I would need to set up a payment plan, to which she fiercely replied "We are not a lending institution, we are a collections agency!" I'm guessing that she was trying to say there will be no payment arangements. Then she went on to tell me that I had to let her know by the end of the day how I would be paying. I told her that I still needed the documents (which she hadn't sent yet) before I could commit to anything. For all I knew, she was just someone trying to scam me for my money. I guess that ticked her off. She started raising her voice saying things like "I'm trying to help you!" "If you don't agree to 20% discount, the full balance is due immediately!" "I'm trying to talk! Quit interrupting me!" (when in actuality she was the one who interrupted everything I said, trying to force payment out of me right then and there) I told her that I was sensing aggression and that I did not like that. I told her that I will make no decisions without documentation. She then took my fax number and said she'd fax it.

I don't doubt that the debt is valid. It is. But in looking at the document she faxed to me, it is clear that they just received the account this morning (she faxed me the doctor's office itemized list, which show the "Statement history as of 08/26/08"...yep, that's today!

So, do I have any rights here? I just found out about this thing today. They just received the account today. I certainly don't have $1400 (or even $1000 which is the discounted amount) laying around. There is no way I can even come up with it in the time frame she has asked. Isn't there anyway that I can make payments on something like this? Do I have to accept their terms? Can't I offer up any terms of my own? What are you supposed to do when they become aggressive and threatening? What are my rights?

Answer 1

haha I loved saying: We are not a lending institution, we are a collections agency!

Debt collectors are tuff. They can pretty much say that all. You shoulda paid your bills before it went to collections. Now you get to deal with them.

Today is when they are looking at your account, not meaning when they got it.

Answer 2

Of course you have rights but don't expect a collection agency to honor any of them. Keep the copy of what you were faxed in a binder or folder. Right away, contact your credit bureau (s) and ask them for a debt validation on the alleged account. They have 30 days to respond to you. Once you get it, compare the information from the credit bureau (this will be unbiased) to that of the agency (biased).

If the debt is really yours and is not near the statute of limitations (7 years where it will just come off your report) then contact the creditor and make arrangements to pay. Once they agree to payment arrangements also negotiate a "pay for delete" so once the debt is satisfied they'll delete the info from your credit report. Get this in writing only and make sure they don't misrepresent by stating that they'll show the account as "paid" which is not the same as "deletion".

Going forward, if the phone calls continue in a rude or demeaning manner, write the collection agency a "cease and desist" letter stating they are not permitted to contact you by phone and can only do so by mail.

Good luck!