I live in a nice place inherited from my parents in a posh locality in a sleepy town.

My brothers and sisters sold their inheritance for a ridiculous amount, for the simple reason that their jobs demanded them to stay away from this town and this money could pay for the house mortgage debt they have in the metros.

I do not have a luxury car, washing machine, cooking range or even a refrigerator or an automated water filter. Worst, I do not have a regular job. And, I do not have DEBT. I only do free lancing and giving cookery classes, all at home.

I do not have the luxury things, not because I am incapable of generating wealth. If I leave the place for a job just for the purpose of generating revenues I perhaps would not be taking care of my parents in their last years. I perfected the art of remaining above poverty line, living within the financial boundaries – without debt and without wants. I studied in the best school, college and university and I do not consider myself deprived or poor for the value adding skills I picked up there that had put me in control of any situation, especially managing within limited means, without debt. I am Creative. And I believe it’s a skill any body can develop, to reduce the credit card debt, college loan debt and mortgage debt. Willing to make a conscious choice to manage money wisely is the creativity we all need the most in the times of recession to avoid debt.

Debt is a financial suicide if you use a credit card for the things once bought, start losing in value such as:

• Going on vacation
• Buying designer dresses and accessories
• Repaying other debt
• Buying gifts for others
• Furniture for the new house/replace the old one

Debt you afford to owe for the things that would increase in value and generate revenue sooner or later, are as follows:

• Get a college/University degree: It will give you skills to earn better
• Buy a home: If you rent it out, it will pay off the mortgage
• Start a business: Helps you generate money for you and to repay the loan

When you find yourself in the hole of debt, borrowing more to come out of it is only digging a deeper grave. When I decide I do not borrow for the things I do not need I avoid debt. Luxury stuff is not a need, it is a want. Being rich would have made me happier and more generous. But then I would still be thinking of the distinction between needs and wants and still be trying not to use credit cards, to buy stuff that loses value the moment it comes into my hands. This refusal to get into debt would have nothing to do with my fat bank balance. After all, the richest is the one who has no debt.

Visit www.collectionstopper.com if you are being sued by a credit card debt collector. If a credit debt collector has sued you illegally, you will be represented for free and then sue the debt collector and make them pay you under the FDCPA. For Free! Fill out our free case evaluation form. Your case will be reviewed and you will be contacted usually within 5 minutes to 1 hour’s time.

Posted on February 26th, 2009 by CollectionStopper
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A Debt Collector attempts to convert your erstwhile debt that had long been dead, into the one that he is conceiving to give birth to.

He is apparently counting on the fact that you are ignorant of your collection rights and he is zeroing in on you to take you to a very long ride.

When Creditors/lending institution decide to write-off an account, they take a tax credit, based not only on the alleged transfers for the goods/services, but also on the interest and fees accrued.

They, then sell the Rights of Collection to a third-party debt collector for a fraction of the actual value of the debt.

The real price would be around 10-20 cents per dollar.

The third party debt collector now employs many strategies that have been perfected to an art form to extract money from the alleged debtor.

Their initial contact is by telephone.

When a telephone is answered it is deemed an invitation for the other party to speak. If it is a debt collector calling, speaking to him would deem it consent to getting into business with him.

In fact there is no law, code, or statute that can make you enter into any conversation/agreement that you do not consent to.

JUST HANG-UP, if you decide against getting into a conversation with the caller.

Now that the debt caller had failed to make contact with you at home he will try to call you at your place of work.

This way he intends to condition you to enter this supposedly new scheme by embarrassing and intimidating you at which point most people break and contact the Debt collector.

Once this contact is made or an offer is accepted for a so called reduced balance or rate of interest, the birth of a new debt is complete.

This is all because you were not aware of your collection rights.

Should the debt collector fail to make contact by telephone within a week or two he would send “The Letter”.

This is an attempt to show that the law/system is on his side so that he can convert a debt that no longer does exist, into a fresh one.

In his letter he would say that:

1. This is an attempt to collect a debt, and any information will be used for that purpose.

2. The letter is from a debt collector.

3. You have 30 days to dispute the validity of the debt, or any part of it.

4. If such dispute, demand for validation, or request for information on the original creditor is not made the debt will be considered valid.

5. When a demand/request in writing is made within 30 days, for verification, or a copy of a judgment it will be provided.

The next/sixth warning is usually found at the bottom or on the back of the letter.

It is sometimes in microscopic print or in a light unreadable shade of gray that discourages you from reading it.

6. The name and address of the original creditor will be given, if the name is different from the current creditor.

The debt collector is silently praying that you would never get to know the relevance or the true meaning of what he wrote.

1. “That this is an attempt to collect a debt”, in fact means despite the fact that you and he are total strangers and you owe him nothing, he intends to extract money from you.

He also means that you should take it as an advance warning and he would leave nothing to chance in squeezing money out of you and make your life miserable.

Actually you must be able to recognize that:

• The sender of the letter does not have a valid claim
• It is an indirect admission that there is no bona fide evidence
• The original debt was written off/charged-off
• These collectors want to bring this non existent debt back to life so they can make an exaggerated return on their money
• If they have the right to try you too you have the right to say no

By “Any information will be used for that purpose“, he means that

• Any communication will be recorded or transcribed to be used against you
• This is the only way the debt collector could build a case against you should you contest his claims
• You can never say no to him
• Without your compliance/consent he could do nothing against you

2. “This communication is from a debt collector.”

He does not want you to understand that

• He is desperately willing you to believe you owed him the debt
• Since he is notorious for ruthlessness, fraud, deceit, intimidation, stalking, and harassment, laws were passed to protect you from his beguiling practices through the “fair debt collection practices act” i.e., FDCPA
• FDCPA shields you from anything that he would attempt to do to harass you
• The original alleged creditor is nowhere in the scene
• The debt has been written-off by the original alleged creditor and it no longer exists

Should the debt collector succeed in collecting, it would be deemed collected twice because it had already been claimed by the original alleged creditor for tax and other reliefs.

3. “That you have 30 days to notify his office that you dispute the validity of the debt, or any part/portion of it.” actually means that:

• If he had sent you a letter accusing you of owing a debt, you have 30 days to dispute its validity
• This is an effort to appear that he is conducting himself decently and giving you a chance
• If he had his way he would be allow no time for you
• If he did he was afraid that you would use it to exert your rights
• You will be polite and generally non-combative if they allow you less time for rational thinking

This ploy can be foiled if you read between the lines.

4. “That if such dispute, demands for validation, or request for information on the original creditor is not made the debt will be considered valid.”

You must understand this as:

• The only reason you are being told this is because he had to tell you
• You have no agreement/contract with him in any way
• In case of a demand for a verification, he must stop all collection attempts until it is provided
• It is impossible for him to verify any of his alleged claims
• He is sure that you do not know how to use your rights against him

If you do not deny the allegation/charge within 30 days, you are in fact allowing it to stand uncontested, adding to its validity in the eyes of the court.

If you question him about this alleged creditor, and the relevance of the information these debt collector would disappear into the thin air.

5. “When demanded/requested in writing (within 30 days) the verification, or a copy of a judgment, will be provided.”

By the time it arrives at your house he would be praying that you would not:

• Call his bluff

• Pay attention to his guile

• Reject him as legitimate debt collector
• Fail to recognize him to be willing to defend his claim
• Ask him in writing of any proof of the claim

If you really ask for proof or facts, he must provide it or else the claim against you would be void.

6. “That the name and address of the original creditor will be given, if the name is different from the current creditor.”

Understand it as:

• If you do not follow his diktats or should you claim validation or a pay-off balance from the wrong party he would stop at nothing to trouble you

• Should you be willing to do the payment in full, the alleged creditor must provide full disclosure of facts in writing

• If the alleged creditor had added fees and interest to the balance in question, delays would cost the alleged debtor

It is amazing that these six simple items imply so much meaning and implications could be uncovered.

An entire array of alternatives can be perceived for umpteen options.

You have three basic options to choose from:

• Ignore the letter
• Pay the debt
• Fight/dispute the validity of the alleged debt

A debt collector hugely relies on the ignorance of your collection rights, and is confident that the intimidation and harassment would be enough to make you scurry to your friends/family to raise money to pay the alleged debt.

Click www.collectionstopper.com for more information on your collection rights.

Know your rights. Use the knowledge to turn the tables on the unscrupulous debt collectors. This is obviously the best way to get even with the fraudulent Debt Collector.

Even better: Make them pay you.

Our attorneys at www.collectionstopper.com will assess your case.

Fill in the details for a free case evaluation.

They willl review your case and contact you, within an hour’s time.

Posted on February 3rd, 2009 by CollectionStopper
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If you believe the debt collector has violated the law, then you have the right to sue the collector in a state or federal court.

When you have been harassed by a debt collector, the first thing you must do is, to determine whether the collector is the original creditor, a collection agency or a company that bought the debt. Collection agencies and attorneys who are regularly engaged in collecting debts must comply with Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the respective states’ Debt Collection Act. The original creditor is generally not liable under the FDCPA unless they are holding themselves out as a collection agency or if the owner of a debt acquires it after the debt default.

Assess the type of debt you owned. You may be protected under FDCPA, if the debt collector is attempting to collect a consumer debt such as a utility bill, car payment, home mortgage etc.

Prior to filing a lawsuit against the debt collection agency under FDCPA, see if you have any witness to harassment against you. Ask the debt collectors to send the notarized statements with in five days of the collector’s initial communication by phone. This notice is to dispute the debt within 30 days after you receive, and also the debt collector must stop the collection of debt until the debt is validated. You must compel the debt collector to inform you the rights in writing in its initial written communication.

Also, it is very important to send the correspondence letter to a debt collector by Certified mail with return receipt requested. With certified mail, you can track the letters all the way to the collection agency and you will receive a signed and dated notice that the collector has received your letter.

The most important things to know when you are harassed by a debt collector are

• You do not have to sit on the phone and be abused by a debt collector. You can tell the debt collector to stop calling on the phone. While talking on your phone with debt collectors, make sure to ask for his/her name and name of the collection agency. Also ask the collector about the original creditor and insist on written description of how you owe the money claimed.

• If you have any doubt about a valid claim against a debt collector, tell the debt collector that you are not willing to discuss the details until you review the documents. The debt collector may use various techniques to make you feel culpable or promise to pay a debt.

• You need to store the letters, faxes, E-mails, phone calls by recording the debt collector’s calls, if your state law permits you to do. These collected documents will be used as evidence of debt collector’s unlawful practices or any harassment.

• Call recording can be the best evidence. Usually, there will be some kind of violation by debt collectors when they are on phone with you. Techniques such as using simple phone recorders, putting call on speaker phone or by using a service by www.RecordMyCalls.com are simple to use and very inexpensive, and you should record by informing them. Visit http://www.rcfp.org/taping/for more information on recording phone calls in different states.

www.collectionstopper.com follows an effective process of handling debt collection issues that will result in the most optimum and satisfactory outcome to win your case. Also you can recover money for the damages you suffered plus payment of attorneys’ fees and court costs. If you are chosen as a designated class representative, a lawsuit may be filed against a debt collector on behalf of a group of people. In this case, you can recover money for damages up to the lesser of $500,000 or one percent (1%) of the collector’s net worth

Posted on December 26th, 2008 by CollectionStopper
Filed under: Debt Collection | No Comments »