Fending off Credit Card Debt Collectors Begins with a Guiltless Attitude

Many consumers, who cannot afford to pay high monthly minimum credit card debt payments and cannot afford to settle those debts, condemn themselves with their feelings of guilt to being tormented by credit card debt collectors.

Some consumers in this situation realize they do not have to suffer this financial death by guilt.

A proven legal strategy for dealing with overdue unsecured credit card debt that cannot be paid is to deny it and dispute it with a debt collector (not the original creditor), according to the Credit Card Debt Survival Guide. It is important to understand this is a legal strategy and not a reflection on the character of the person using this strategy. This is analogous to pleading the Fifth Amendment and making the other side prove their case.

A credit card debt collector is required by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to send a statement to the consumer with the debt saying that:

1] Unless the consumer disputes the validity of the debt, the debt will be assumed to be valid by the debt collector and

2] The consumer must notify the debt collector in writing within thirty days that the debt is disputed.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act also allows consumers to write to the credit card debt collector stating that they refuse to pay the debt, or that they would like the debt collector to stop all communication regarding the debt.

Then what happens, when the consumer disputes and denies a credit card debt and instructs collection communications to cease when a collection attempt is made by a credit card debt collector? Their job has been made harder. They must validate the debt with copies of original documents. That means going back to the credit card company for documents, then forwarding them to the consumer.

In the case of an unsigned and unsecured credit card debt, the credit card debt collector first has to get the consumer to admit their guilt and that they owe this debt. How this first debt collection communication from the debt collector is handled is important. The debt collector is likely to move on to a consumer who requires less work, if they are faced with a denial, a dispute of the debt and instructions to cease communications.