How Consumers Can Interact with Debt Collections

When consumers owe a debt, they should, of course, make every attempt to pay it.Not doing so is not only immoral and unethical, but it is also an easy way to ruin one’s credit and find accounts sent to collections.

However, before paying on a debt that they have been contacted about, consumers are advised to request documentation and verification of the debt. This will ensure that the debt in question is

actually THEIR debt and that they are not being wrongfully contacted about a debt that they do not actually owe.

In fact, verification of debts and other processes are so important that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is currently conducting research on issues experienced by debtors. It plans to use the input it receives to update laws related to debt collection and possibly institute some new ones as well.

The big concern that the organization has is with debt recovery professionals contacting the wrong people about debts. When many collection agencies purchase debt, they often don’t get a lot of information on the debtor. This means that, in their effort to track down that person, they may end up finding the wrong person with the same or similar name. Sometimes, the wrong people even end up paying debts that are not theirs as a result.

Obviously, this is a concern, one that the organization is hoping to rectify by requiring more information to contact people about debts and possibly instituting other protective laws as well.

Consumers who have had an experience similar to this or who would like to weigh in with their own two cents are encouraged to share their thoughts at RegulationRoom.org. Their comments will be sent to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to help them in their research and thus could even impact future laws.