Put An End To Debt Harassment

Nothing is worse when bills start to pile up, the phone is ringing off the hook with “courtesy” or bill collector calls, and you are being fee’d to death by your friendly, neighborhood, bank. Unfortunately, more and more Americans are finding themselves in this position, due to the aggressive tactics that can put anyone on a round of never ending phone calls, even if for years they’ve had a sterling credit rating. With current salaries stagnant, and prices rising, sometimes you are put in the position of paying one bill over another, or delaying payment for a few days. Those few days, though, shouldn’t put you on a permanent list of harassing calls, which are sometimes happens, disguised as “courtesy calls.” There are ways to take control back and start reducing the stress of managing debt, even if you are thousands in debt.

Fake Email and Phone Numbers

Yes, they want your phone number so they can pester you like crazy. Give it to them. If you’re behind, you want to know - once. If they abuse the privilege of talking to you and claim they are making “courtesy” calls, don’t answer the phone. This is actually easier than it sounds. You simply change phone numbers and start to tell those that abide by decent rules of conduct your real number. Give the others your previous number. You can even keep a pay-as-you-go phone just for this purpose. When you call the ones that have made your life miserable, do it from the pay-as-you-go phone so they can’t spot your real number. When they say they’ve tried to get a hold of you and they can’t reach you, claim it’s still your phone number, because it is. Honestly, as long as they have your real snail mail address, if it’s that important, they’ll send you a letter. Those you can read at your own leisure and they won’t disrupt your work day.

People have been doing this very same thing to marketers for years now. They have several email addresses and they give the spammers the one that is temporary or throwaway. Now, they can spam, call, and try to harass you all they want, you just won’t be on the receiving end anymore. If someone really has something important to say, you can bet they will be mailing a letter to you in the regular mail, if not certified. Otherwise, it’s just a way to try to browbeat you into buying something or making their payment first, when your priorities might be different.

Call Them First and Take Control of Repayment

You make the first call to your lender and you negotiate a payment plan. Try to stick with it. If you do, don’t let them call and hound you, just because they’ve put your name on a list for people who work from India making calls for pennies a day. It’s fair at that point to simply hang up on them. Take control of your debt instead, and, if you have to, call a lawyer to help you negotiate terms that work for you. Once you take control of your debt, instead of it letting it control you, you will sleep much easier at night knowing there is an end in sight.

You should have a good handle on who you owe, how much, how far you are behind and the interest rate on any debt. You should never allow an automatic payment to be drafted from your checking account, to keep tight control on what they take out. Some companies are going as far as double or triple billing clients, and banks can’t stop them, but they can charge you overdraft fees - even if it’s against your negotiated settlement. Make sure to take control and know what your terms are and add it to automatic payment schedule within your online banking, where you have the most control over how much and when it leaves your account. This will reduce the chances you overdraft to an overzealous collection agency, and you will spare yourself another phone call to boot trying to fix the problem.

Close Accounts

If you are in debt, odds are your credit has already taken a hit. Closing debt accounts, particularly credit cards, can be a way to negotiate a better rate and a repayment plan. However, it will also impact your credit as it impacts your debt to credit ratio. If you know you can pay off the account with a tax refund, wait until then and don’t close the account, even if it has a high interest rate. It’s better to pay it off in full, and keep the credit open, then it is to close it and repay at a lower rate - only if you can do it in the relative short-term. If you foresee years of repayment due to a change in your economic circumstances, close the account and do a repayment plan. The ding on your credit rating is nothing compared to what it will cost you, in piece of mind and money, if you continuously miss payments or default over all.