Receiving a telephone call from a collector can be intimidating, but if you take the time to understand your legal rights and a few handy credit repair techniques, you will be able to control the situation, and even gain the upper hand. Of course if you are in our credit report repair program we will handle these details for you, but it is useful and empowering to grasp these important facts.
Don’t Believe a Word
If a collector calls you on the phone they may have the legal right to collect money from you, or they may not. You would not give money to just anyone that asked you for it, so don’t take a collectors word for it, demand that they send you something in writing. It’s a smart credit repair strategy and as easy as saying, “Mr. Collector, I’m sorry, but I don’t discuss these things over the phone, please send me something in the mail so I can look into this issue.”
Credit Repair and Debt Validation
When the collector sends you something in writing it will be in the form of a collection notice. This presents an opportunity to utilize one of the most powerful credit repair tools available, debt validation. You have the right, under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to demand from a collector proof that they have the legal right to collect, as well as an objective accounting of the amount that they say you owe. You must demand this in writing within thirty days of receiving the collection letter. If the collector cannot provide the documentation requested they must cease collections efforts and not report to the credit bureaus; the perfect credit repair outcome. If they do provide the documentation requested it is the perfect starting point for your next credit repair tactic.
Checking the Statute of Limitation
Once you have proof that a collector is legitimate it’s time to do your credit repair homework and research the statute of limitation for the subject debt. The statute of limitation is the period of time that a collector can attempt to enforce collection through the court system. If the statute of limitation has expired they have zero leverage. This means that the collection can be safely ignored, or easily negotiated, should you decide to take that route. The statute of limitation clock starts on the date of original default on the original debt. It is essential to your credit repair success to understand that this has nothing at all to do with the reporting period limit, typically seven years, and in fact is often considerable less.