You have a big company out here in the American society when it comes to debts. Rest assured there are millions like you immersed in debts. The good news is you also have many debt repayment techniques to free yourself of the debt. There are thousands of debt management companies thriving to help you.

It is important to understand why people get into debts that they cannot repay. American society has countless opportunities to make money. In this country, people start making a living working early in their lives. Once financially independent you get into the temptation of spending. The spending habits are out of control because you are in hold of credit cards that allow you to buy whatever you wish to at the outset.

Little do you remember at that time that you need to repay. The small minimum repayment balance often tempts you to consider buying what you cannot afford. If you were to buy an expensive Television set with a credit card repayment of $45.00 per month, it seems a very easy option to living without that Television set.

This Television set may lead to some expensive gifts for Christmas and then a trip to Bahamas for holidays. After a point of time it becomes impossible for you to stop and before you realize you are completely in a debt trap.

A credit card is a curse when it comes to the spending habits of individuals in our country. Approximately half of the credit card holders in America pay only the minimum monthly payment. Only a very few actually repay the credit card bills on time. If you can get over the temptation of buying with plastic money you can redeem yourself from debts.

If you have decided to absolve yourself from debt the first step is to write down your income and expenses. Where possible you may cut down the expenses by marking them unnecessary. You may budget the number of times you are eating out, the expensive cosmetics, the jewelry and the clothes that you buy etc. Expenses like college fee or medicines cannot be budgeted. Now budget your expenses to match your income and write down how much you can save.

The extra savings that you accrue now can be used for debt repayment. Of course the savings may seem very little at first but a persistent effort from you can do magic to the savings pile. In a month or two you will realize that you were actually not spending your money wisely that led you to the debt in the first place.

Once you have started saving and started using that money to clear your debts, it is easier to fall into the habit of saving similarly even after the debt is completely repaid. This habit will ensure you don't over spend anymore.

It is unpleasant to take calls from debt collectors. Quite often you don't want to speak to them. You can't avoid paying them if you have spent all those dollars through credit cards. If the debt is genuine it is better to pay up. However, even if you owe the debt you are protected against debt collector's harassment .

Let us understand debt collection harassment. A debt collection agency (third party) is retained by original creditors (first party), credit card companies or banks for example, to collect a debt from you which they failed to collect. Debt collection agencies (third party) can even be companies that bought the debt from original creditors (first party) and are intent on collecting the payments from debtors (second party). Debt collectors do not have the right to harass you for the money. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has enforced certain guidelines for fair debt collection in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

The FDCPA requires debt collectors to follow basic rules to collect debts from consumers.

A recent case of debt collection harassment in Dallas was resolved by the jury awarding the consumer $1.5 million for punitive damages and $50.000.00 for mental anguish against constant debt collector harassment for a paltry amount of $200.00. The collectors left obscene and racial comments on the voice mail box of the consumer. The objectionable messages were used as proof of harassment and the Dallas County Jury passed judgment in the consumer's favor.

If not for these recorded voice messages, the case could not have stood the trial.

It is pertinent to note that if you know your debt collection rights you would not be harassed. A debt collector should not call you at inconvenient times, or repeatedly or speak obscene language. A debt collector should not call your family and friends to seek information about you except for your contact coordinates. Debt collectors should not call at your place of employment knowing you or your employer would not approve it. Debt collectors should not resort to abusive or racial comments that can hurt the sentiments of consumers.

You can stop the menacing calls by writing to the debt collectors. A letter requesting the debt collectors to stop calls and validate debt through a certified mail is a powerful weapon you should use to keep the calls away. Although this does not absolve you of the debt it will stop the unpleasant harassment. Not knowing this simple technique has led many harassed consumers to consider serious actions like suicide. Some consumers end up as medical wrecks.

Debt collection has taken ugly turn with the debt collectors violating the FDCPA. To ensure you are not a victim of debt collection harassment, know your rights in the FDCPA.

Matthew from North Star is harassing my parents. They have told him on more than one occasion that I don't live with them and to remove their number, he has my number, but he insist on calling them and today he gave my mother all of my debt information he told her my balance owed and the company it’s owed too.

Shawnta Session

I have an outstanding credit card with the army exchange. I am retired coast guard and have had some rough times since I have retired in 05. We did owe about $5,000 on this card but trying to stay above water with my mortgage we let the credit card get behind. A company called NCO called my work looking for me so I tried to call them back over a 5 day period with no luck getting through. I got hold of a person named Todd Lane who had called my work looking for me. He is from NCO. I talked to him on 1/19/09. He informed me that this is a federal debt and is worse than bankruptcy. He told me that I owed $6900 and that the federal government was going to garnish my retirement and any tax returns. He then told me that if I paid him $2075.00 now and $400.00 a month he would not send a fax to my job and start a min 15% wage garnishment at my regular job. I told him that I did not have that much money to put down but could pay him 400-$500 a month. He said I needed to go to a bank and get a loan to pay him. He tried pushing the Navy Federal Credit Union on me. I told him that I could not pull a loan with my credit the way it was and we are trying to heal my credit. He wanted me to get a co-signer for a loan. I told him that I needed to talk to my wife about this. He said I had 24 hours before he sends a fax to my work and garnish my wages. I don’t know where to go with this. I want to work with them but I can’t get my job involved. Please help me.

 Robert Tucker

I received a call from NCO financial, but they claim they were in Kansas. I spoke with a man named ken. He was very rude very demanding and did not want to hear my story. He gave me one hour to come up with $400 or they would see me in court. I told him I couldn’t do that then he got very rude about it. My wife has suffered 2 severe nervous breakdowns over all the bull and me being diabetic have failed to well either. Can something be done Johnson?

One collection agency called Calvary Portfolio services called my mother’s home on a Sunday afternoon asking for someone named Buckner which is not us. They called many times before but ignore the fact that we told them that no Buckner lives here and we do not know a Buckner. Portfolio Recovery has called my mother’s house numerous times looking for a person named Joyner, she told them each time no Joyner lives there and we do not know a Joyner. I have called them twice about this issue and each time they tell me they took my mother’s number out of their database. The numbers are all 800 numbers I had to *69 them because my mother is elderly and doesn't know how to confront them. Can I get a list of 800 numbers that called from my phone company? My mother’s number is in my name, and I have had this number for years. I have no debt in collection myself and my credit/debt/liabilities are current with a high FICO score. My mother owes nothing and is not in any default. Do I have cause for legal action beyond filing a complaint with the FTC?

ANTONIO DIFRANCO

I have had the Scott Lowery Law Firm (CO) contacting me for over a year now (via phone some but few mail contact). I am unemployed so they call me on my cell phone daily now. The month's of Aug. thru Dec. calls were twice a day. Last Tues., Jan. 27, 2009, they contacted my husband's cell/work phone and asked him if he was in fact my husband and if our new address was correct. This scared both of us as we had moved only 29 days ago. I have no idea how they got his cell # nor our new address. This is an old MNBA account I did not pay off or work out a plan with them so was sent to this firm. Original amt. was 15-17,000, now they claim I owe 39,000. I tried using US Financial for over a year and they fought off some calls but the stress this has caused to my pregnancy is unbelievable. I was sent to a cardiologist due to the stress from their calls and now knowing where we live, etc... Please advice. I would settle with them but only have 7,000 saved to do so and I feel that I

Melissa Kreiss

NCO bought my debt from Am Express. They called my ex husband and told him he was responsible for 1/2 of the bill and they would sue, him for at least 1/2 if not all, they would lien his house and garnish his wages. I called AMEx and they said he is not the cardholder. I contacted NCO-Beverly and she gave me the same response said I had until 1/30 to get together at least 15,000 to pay the debt down to a reasonable amount or they would sue, garnish, lien all of the above. They call me about 3 times every day. I have started making payments of 100.00 and she said it was not good enough. I had dealt with them previously and they threatened the same thing. I was so rattled when my ex called that when I called her she got my work address, phone, wages, and cell #. I told her this could place my job at risk. She didn't care. I also told her I could not come up with that kind of money and she said I had to by tomorrow have an answer for her or she would sue my ex and me. I have called her back after I contacted AMEX and left her a voice mail to not contact my ex again as it was not his debt, not to call me at work because I could lose my job and that I was not done with this issue and she would hear from me tomorrow.

Janette Atkins

I defaulted on a car loan back in 1995,but made arrangements to pay what was owed to stay out of court, then in 2003 I received a bill from cavalry portfolio for 19,000 dollars. at the time I owed on a student loan and assumed it was just that. So the lady from cavalry would call and set up payments for 3 months at a time. Then after a while she just started taking it out every month without my consent. This is when i found out it wasn’t the student loan. I told her right then and there not to take any more money out of my account. I explained to her that I took care of this debt back in 1995. Of course the original company no longer exists, and they expect me to find the proof that I paid this money. I was receiving phone calls nonstop every day for awhile, and then they stopped. Now they are calling again, and they even called me at my place of work last week, which I assumed was against the law to do. The original car loan was for 5500 dollars, after I defaulted they were going to sue me for 3000, and i settled to pay 1200(100 a month) to keep it out of court and settle the debt. They never seem to want to give me any information, as to how I owe this money. They do not show up on my credit reports, but they keep popping up as credit inquiries, in order to knock my credit score down. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to resolve this.

Regina Cain