Congress has written a few laws to help protect debtors who fall behind on their bills from creditors. Aside from the Bankruptcy Code, there’s the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The FDCPA regulates what debt collectors can say to debtors; the TCPA limits some of the tools collectors can use to contact debtors, namely autodialers. Both laws are antiquated in terms of communication technology, but the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been trying to update them.
These laws all provide remedies to debtors who can successfully show that a creditor has breached them, but there are a few ways debtors can avoid some of the calls in the first place. First, though, it should be said that bankruptcy is a better alternative to defaulting on a loan.
One, control the information you give to creditors. When you’re in good standing with a bank, it will work to be professional and convenient to you. Thus, it’s unsurprising that when asked about contact information, people readily give personal phone numbers, email addresses, etc. to banks. Instead of giving them your most personal contact information, give them alternative numbers. In particular, create a backup email address and possibly a Google Voice phone number. Using these when you interact with a creditor can reduce the likelihood of future unpleasant communications, and if they ever sell your debts to collectors, this is the contact information they’ll have. In fact, one benefit of Google Voice and similar services is that it creates a call log for users.
Importantly, there are a few pieces of information that you should give creditors when asked, like your physical address and other necessary identification. However, it’s a lot easier to block calls to a secondary phone number (or change it entirely) than it is to deal with debt collectors.
Secondly, be careful what contact information you put on social media. Debt collectors are becoming savvier about ferreting out information about debtors simply by looking at what debtors put on their social media pages—where debtors want to be found in other contexts. I’ve discussed debt collectors and social media here, but many users do not take the time to set up adequate privacy settings to ensure that strangers cannot scour their pages for information and then use that to contact them via conventional methods. The stricter you are with social media, the harder it is for strangers to harass you.
Updating the FDCPA and the TCPA isn’t high on the government’s agenda, but the strategies listed above can curb more abusive debt collectors. They can also prevent unwanted communication from other parties seeking you out, including, for instance, debt collectors who have obtained your phone number by mistake.
Nevertheless, if you are experiencing debt problems, tinkering with remote phone numbers and email addresses will not solve the problem in the long run. If that sounds like your situation, talking to an experienced New York bankruptcy lawyer can help.
For answers to more questions about bankruptcy, the automatic stay, effective strategies for dealing with foreclosure, and protecting your assets in bankruptcy please feel free to contact experienced fair debt collection practices act Bruce Weiner for a free initial consultation.
