You CAN Tell The Collection Agency NO!
You’ve just received a collection notice in the mail and you don’t know what to do. Your emotions are racing between anger, frustration and fear. The answer you seek is actually more simple than most people realize. Tell that collection agency NO!
One of the very reasons the collection letter is written in such strong, even threatening words is to intimidate you. To make you feel they have the upper hand and that you have no choice but to pay them, the collection agency.
The good news is, you don’t have to pay, or deal with the collection agency at all.
In Benjamin F. Dover’s book, “BACK OFF!”, he instructs to never pay the collection agency. Understand, he or I am not saying that you should not pay the debts you owe. Indeed you should.
Settle with the original creditor.
You should however, only settle those debts with the original creditor. If you do succumb to the pressure and pay the debt collector, the payment you make may never even be realized by the original creditor. Only a small portion may actually be forwarded to the creditor, and your record with the original creditor again, may never reflect the payment.
Pay your bills. But pay the person you owe. Not the middleman in it for sheer profit. Profit realized while standing on your back. Take the collection agency out of the picture with a simple tool called a Cease & Desist letter.
The beauty of the Cease & Desist letter is that it spells out, in absolute detail the Public Law section that covers the collector’s actions, and that you can make use of.
These are yours to use as you need
I have included three examples that are your’s to use as you see fit. The blank form can be simply copied and filled out. The other two are examples of how a C&D letter can be filled out and used.
The one major instruction that you must follow is to send the letters by USPS Certified, Return Receipt Requested mail. Without proof the intended receiver ever got the piece of mail, your efforts are wasted.
Here’s the forms and examples for you:
Time to play hardball
Every once in a while scammers will try to find an old bill that you owed, usually with cell phone or cable companies, and try to force you to pay the bill.
On my occasion I had upgraded a plan and the bill was absorbed into the new contract. But the scammers tried to say I owed it, with massive amounts of penalty and interest. I even reached out to the contract holder and confirmed the bill was not valid.
Deciding I was not going to accept one more letter or phone call from the collectors I researched the collection agency and located the President’s name and business address.
I fired off a C&D letter to him at the business address. He refused to accept the letter or sign for it. That’s when I played hardball. I contacted this firm that specializes in Consumer Law. They successfully sued the collections firm for $1000 and handed me a nice $750 check.
You need not be bullied, or intimidated, or slandered regarding any bill you may owe. The law says so. Take advantage of it.