“8 Things to Know When Dealing With Debt Collectors”
By Russ Wiles, Detroit News
August 2, 2004

Federal and state laws provide important consumer safeguards. In particular, the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act bars collectors from using threats of violence, obscene language and other egregious behavior. These rules don’t stop harassment and they certainly won’t wipe clean the slate on legitimate debts. But they can help avoid some of the worst intimidation.

Many collectors work on commission, a situation that can encourage aggressive tactics. Also, some agencies buy bad debts from merchants, banks and other businesses for pennies on the dollar, creating huge motivations to collect as much as possible.

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