If you have applied for Social Security Disability insurance over the past 12-15 months than you know how frustrating the approval process can be. In essence, getting approved for Social Security Disability, or SSDI for short, is even slower than usual due to the Covid pandemic. It seems as if the federal government is backed up in many areas, however you still need your SSDI payments in order to survive in these trying times. So what impact has the Covid pandemic had on you regarding your application for SSDI? Have you missed payments on monthly mortgage, car loan, or a personal loan?
Perhaps you have missed a bunch of payments on your credit cards. If you so you are certainly not alone. Millions of injured people who have applied for SSDI in recent times are in the same boat. If you’ve missed a bunch of credit card payments than chances are high that you’re being contacted by a collection agency or multiple collection agencies. To add insult to injury they may be calling you at all hours of the day and night. If so, it can be more than annoying. If you feel like collection agents are harassing you than we have some good news for you.
The fact of the matter is that you have rights. Under federal law, collection agents are not allowed to harass you in any manner when attempting to collect a debt from you. That means if a collection agent calls you before 8 AM in the morning or after 9 PM in the evening they are violating your consumer protection rights. The only way that they are allowed to contact you before 8 AM and or after 9 PM is if you instruct them to. For example, if a collection agent calls you at noon and you tell them to call you back to 10 pm that night; they are allowed to do that.
Some debt collectors resort to other forms of harassment because they are under the impression that if they bother you enough you will pay them even if you can’t afford to pay them. For example, some debt collectors will make false threats when calling you. They may threaten to have your wages garnished if you don’t pay them immediately. The good news is that debt collectors do not have the power to have your wages garnished. Only a court of law can do that. Some debt collectors will stoop so low as to threaten to have you arrested for failure to pay your debts. Guess what?
They have no power to do that either. Debt collectors cannot have you arrested for failing to pay your current or past due debts. They can sue you in a court of law and if you fail to appear at the hearing the court itself can issue a warrant for your arrest. So, if you receive notice from the court that the debt collector is suing you always show up to court at the appointed day and time. Another low blow false threat that some debt collectors use is that they will report you to Child Protective Services for child neglect because you failed to pay your debts.
Although that may sound scary, you need to know that debt collectors have absolutely zero power to report you to Child Protective Services based on a debt that you own them. These are all false lies that some debt collectors tell in order to scare people. The bottom line is that when people are scared of having their wages garnished, getting arrested, or having their children taken away from them they tend to pay the debt even if they can’t afford it. Some debt collectors could care less if you use your grocery money to pay them. They could care less if you use your utility money to pay them.
Their goal is to have you pay your past debt so that they can be paid a commission. Once again, you have consumer rights and can put a stop to harassing debt collection phone calls. Life is hard enough right now. You don’t need debt collectors making life even harder for you.
If you need help with debt harassment, please contact your Legal Rights Advocates today. We are a legal rights based law firm that fights for the rights of our clients. We feel your pain and sympathize with your situation. Allow us to give you the helping hand that you need.
(855) 254-7841
(855) 254-7841
