Now that you have some idea of what debt collectors are allowed to do in their attempts to collect from you, it’s important to know what they can NOT do – that is, those actions that are violations of your consumer rights.  After all, you have to know your rights in order to protect them.

Generally, debt collectors cannot:

• Try to collect a debt that they know cannot be legally collected (such as a debt that was discharged in bankruptcy, or one that was paid off)
• Call you at hours that are inconvenient – generally outside of the 8:00am to 9:00pm range, but could also be within those time ranges if the debt collector knows that you work at night or have odd waking and sleeping patterns
• Call you at work if you have told the debt collector that you’re not allowed to receive such calls at work
• Contact you in any way once you tell the debt collector to stop contacting you
• Contact you directly if the debt collector knows you are being represented by a lawyer
• Contact your friends, family members, neighbors or anyone else except for the purpose of correcting or confirming your contact information.  Even then, the debt collector may NOT identify himself as a debt collector or tell the person that you owe a debt.  Also, the debt collector may NOT call the person more than once
• Make harassing, threatening, or misleading statements in order to trick you into making payments.  Examples of illegal statements are:
  • Threatening to have you arrested or jailed
  • Threatening to take your SSI or other protected income
  • Threatening to take your household furniture
  • Threatening to cause physical injury to you or your property
  • Threatening to send false information about you to the credit reporting agencies
  • Using obscene or profane language
  • Threatening to tell all of your friends and relatives and neighbors that you owe money
  • Using terms such as “deadbeat”

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