All you’ve got to do is ask. Sort of. Here’s what to do:

If your employer prohibits personal or collection phone calls, simply inform the collection agency or law firm of this fact by telephone or in writing. At that point, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) prohibits the debt collector from calling you at your place of employment ever again!

If your employer does not actually prohibit you from receiving these calls, you can still get the calls to stop if the calls are inconvenient for you. Here are some examples: (1) your employer has reprimanded you about receiving too many calls, (2) you think that continued calls from the debt collector might jeopardize your employment, (3) your coworkers have discovered or are likely to discover that you are being called by a debt collector, (4) the calls make it difficult for you to complete your job responsibilities. There are a number of reasons why such calls might be inconvenient for you. To get the calls to stop, just inform the debt collector (by telephone or in writing) that its calls to your place of employment are inconvenient for you because _______(fill in the blank). Again, after that, the FDCPA prohibits the debt collector from calling you at your place of employment ever again!

Keep the following in mind:

If you provide the above notice in writing, make sure that you:

(1) Send the letter via certified mail, return receipt requested. That way, you will have proof that the debt collector received your notice. If you send your letter via regular mail, the debt collector is likely to ignore it.

(2) Include your account number in the letter. That way, the debt collector knows who you are. This is especially important if you have a common name – The debt collector is probably contacting 100 different Jill Smiths on 100 different accounts. If you can’t obtain your account number, provide your social security number in the letter (trust me, they already have it).

(3) Save a copy of the letter you wrote and a copy of the certified mail return receipt

If you provide the above notice by telephone, immediately write down the following and save it for your records:

(1) the name of the person you spoke to,

(2) the name of the collection agency or law firm that person works for,

(3) the phone number that you dialed to speak to that person or the phone number from which that person called you,

(4) the date,

(5) what you said and how they responded.

It is essential that you follow these guidelines to protect your rights! In fact, I would recommend that you follow these guidelines for any communications you have with a debt collector.

I’ve done all of the above and they are still calling me at work!

It’s time to talk to an attorney and enforce your rights!  You can even recover money for your troubles.  Contact us at 866-339-1156.

Timothy S.