Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Can a Debt Collector Call Me on Sunday or a Holiday?!

It's (Thanksgiving Day) (Christmas Day) (Sunday), and the debt collector is calling me. Surely this is illegal?!

No, it is not necessarily illegal. A debt collector may call you any day of the week including Sundays and all holidays. However, a debt collector may not call at inconvenient times. Christmas Day is not inconvenient, you say? Well, that depends. The law, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. 1692, et seq., states: "Without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector... a debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt... at any unusual time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to the consumer." The FDCPA continues by advising that "In the absence of knowledge of circumstances to the contrary, a debt collector shall assume that the convenient time for communicating with a consumer is after [8:00 a.m.] and before [9:00 p.m.], local time..." Thus, if a debt collector does not know or should not know when a convenient time is, he or she cannot call before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. There is no mention of holidays or Sundays. But, you could easily state, and the debt collector had better honor, not to call you on Thanksgiving and Christmas Days or even Sundays. If he or she does, you may have a FDCPA lawsuit entitling you up to $1000.00, actual damages, attorney's fees, and costs of litigation.

If you receive any type of phone call from a debt collector similar to this one, take very, very good notes and keep a log. Then contact an experienced consumer rights attorney right away! If any of your FDCPA rights were violated or if you want to find out if your rights were violated, visit www.ConsumerLitigators.com for a free, no obligation case evaluation by one of our experienced consumer rights attorneys. For the overwhelming majority of consumers, there is no out-of-pocket or upfront attorney’s fees or costs to them.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your information. I only started looking this up after my pager company woke me up Sunday morning with their automated calls. You can be sure they will hear from me Monday when I give them a piece of my mind.

Anonymous said...

This is kianda not so clear,1st is says "No, it is not necessarily illegal"
Then is says "There is no mention of holidays or Sundays. But, you could easily state, and the debt collector had better honor, not to call you on Thanksgiving and Christmas Days or even Sundays. If he or she does, you may have a FDCPA lawsuit entitling you up to $1000.00, actual damages, attorney's fees, and costs of litigation." So witch one is it , yes it is or no it is not??

Anonymous said...

This is very helpful as i work in a call center. Part of my job is debt collecting. In one day i have had about 4 customers tell me i am breaking the law by calling them on a Sunday. As i am required to follow FDCPA guidelines. I was very confused and looked into the calling on sunday being Illegal info. This is all the way correct about holidays and sundays not being specified as inconvinvient times.But does not mean it is illegal to call on a sunday. If only so many consumers knew this before being rude,as some debt collection is for their own good.

Anonymous said...

I hate debt collectors. Why doesn't Congress make Sunday calls illegal?

Anonymous said...

I think it is clear. Debt collectors can call on any day unless they KNOW it is inconvenient. If a consumer does not want calls on Sundays, holidays, or any other day a consumer cannot conveniently speak, then the consumer should tell the debt collector. Better to do so in writing (Cert./RRR). Then, once a debt collectors KNOWS a certain day is inconvenient, you have a violation.

Anonymous said...

I too work Debt collection.. for Citicards.. today happens to be Christmas eve.. and I am working as I type this... I have been cursed at several times so far today.. I know its not illegal.. but these companies should give folks a break .. more so, do since they used the peoples money to stay a float

Anonymous said...

This is easy, if you know who the collector is, we got a call 8am on Sunday, Unknown Caller, not calling for us, and would not identify themselves. Now how does your law work in your so just world.

Anonymous said...

I believe that it is only common sense and human descency that Sundays and holidays are family times! In my state dealerships cannot sell cars on Sundays...and for a long time banks could not be open either. But the collector I have calling ONLY calls on Sundays! And leave very misguided messages, stating they are calling regarding suspicious activity on my account linked to my SS# and as a precautionary measure they have flagged my account and I need to call their office by end of the day... is that misrepresentation as well and never in the message do they identify themselves or who they represent....

Anonymous said...

They are phishing for your ss# and are scamers. That is why they don't identify themselves. Don't give out any info and don't call the number they leave you. If you know this company call them on another day with the number you were given from the time you opened up the account. I will bet you a million dollars they say they haven't been calling you, the true company your supposed to be dealing with!!!!

Anonymous said...

GE Money which is general electric the presidents buddy that buys all his products from china and deals with Iran will call you seven days a week from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm every single hour to harass the holy hell out of you. So much for looking out for the middle class "folks". Lost my job and they call me every single day on every single hour for 13 hours a day.

Anonymous said...

I just signed up for a debt settlement program in the hopes of paying off my debt the best way i can right now and the collectors still call my house 10 times a day, it's not fair. I try to tell them i will pay as soon as i can but they don't care at all. it's stressing me out to the point where i will most likely get rid of my phone. Now they call on sundays early in the morning. I'm just sick of this. I have never missed a payment in my life until this past month due to financial hardship and they are on my ass like glue. It's ridiculous

Anonymous said...

hopefully this will be beneficial for you lookup HJR 192 that is the house joint resolution before long to be passed you have to have a resolution first and it's attach to public law 10 48 stat 112 research for yourself this will help you not have to file bankruptcy or any other type of obligation to any debt collector for you you are the supply of the credit that funded this account

Anonymous said...

Well that's all and good, but what if they're calling the wrong person constantly all days of the week? I get calls for at least 6 different people that I'm assuming had my number at some point and time. (otherwise this debt collector is just making them up and hoping to hit SOMEONE I know)

Now I really can't say that legitimate debt collectors are in the wrong for trying to get what is due to them, however I get called anywhere from once a day on an extremely good day to 10 times a day on a bad one by portfolio recovery. I've been polite with them, and after the 15th time of telling them "no I'm not the person you're calling for and I don't know them" they still don't seem to understand that I'm not any of these people.

Anonymous said...

I admit I have some hospitol bills that are way past due. In fact, I just got one for 4,000$. Why do doctors make so much money? I was in the er for hours with stomach pain that far beat giving birth. and since I dont have medical insurance, its all on me... After hours of waiting, they tell me its a bladder infection and try to send me on my way..um no! It hurt so bad! Way too much for just a laughable bladder infection. They sent me for a catscan... guess what!!! Not a bladder infection! Just like I said... It was worse. So now, I have debt collectors calling me nonstop trying to get their money..which I admit I owe...but 4000$ for me to tell the doc what I have, and a picture of my stomach!!! they can call all they want, I have caller id! I just hit the F U button every time. If its important enough they will leave a vm. They never do so I guess its not that important...

Anonymous said...

I find it funny when peole say they hate debit collectors, the thing is if your credit was intact we wouldn't have to call you on Sundays or Holidays! Seriously, it's not our fault you don't pay your bills on time! Not that hard to lay off the Starbucks coffee and Mc Donalds!

Anonymous said...

To the person who thinks its funny that some people hate debt collectors... get your head out your a.. you moron, not everyone who gets calls actually owes a debt! I'll give you a great example, me. I had identity theft happen to me in 2000 and I STILL have agencies calling about it! I don't "hate" them for doing their jobs but its infuriating that these morons (much like yourself) don't take the time to see all 3 credit bureas were flagged LONG AGO as well as nearly all the false accounts were dropped. I'm not sure who is still selling the accounts but I've noticed that in the past 2 years all the calls I get are from outsourced companies which makes it very hard not only to understand their "English" but to attempt to explain this is NOT a valid debt.

Anonymous said...

Here is an answer for you. By the FDCPA laws, we are allowed to call any day of the week, regardless of holidays or Sundays between the hours of 8AM and 9PM of the client's time zone.

If a person does not want to receive calls on any holidays or Sundays, they MUST send in WRITTEN request (typed or hand written) to the debt collector agency stating this information.

The same thing can be done to have calls stopped all together. However, the client will still receive written correspondences.

If you are disputing the debt, the best thing to do is to send a written letter with proof that the debt is not valid. A collector can not assume the debt is invalid without proof.

Anonymous said...

I appreciate the hard work of debt collectors. If they don't make repeated attempts to contact people that refuse to pay their bills, then what interest would banks have to loan consumers money to buy things that consumers don't have the money to buy? Think about that house you have. Think about that car you have. Think about that new large screen TV you have. Were these purchased using credit? Most people that claim they "don't have the money to pay the debt" or "the debt is not mine", are lying and responsible people know this.

Anonymous said...

It is very clear. If you tell them in writing not to call you on Sundays or holidays, they can't. If you want them to stop calling all together, send them a cease and desist letter. It won't stop collections but will stop the calls.

Anonymous said...

Ok I will admit i owe a few debts, im man enought to admit it. But i have already told them that i would have money for they in a few days, but they called be five times before then. I had the money, but i said screw it and didnt give it to them because how they were Harassing me AFTER i told them a date that i would have the money. Now, i dont HATE all Collectors, but there is alot out there that make the decent ones look bad.