Every day more consumers fall behind on their credit card debt payments and leave themselves open to being threatened by credit card debt collectors. Some people simply cannot afford to pay their growing minimum-monthly credit-card debt payment(s), as a result they begin to feel hopeless and guilty.
Some who go through this, however, realize that they do not need to feel guilty and submit to debt collectors.
They understand they can use a proven legal strategy to make the debt collector prove the debt is owed. Denying and disputing an unsecured credit debt with a debt collector, not the original creditor, works, according to Credit Card Debt Survival Guide. This strategy forces the other side to prove their case.
Credit card debt collectors must, according to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act:
1] Unless the consumer disputes the validity of the debt, the debt will be assumed to be valid by the debt collector and
2) Says that the consumer must dispute the debt, in writing, within thirty days of dispute.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act also allows consumers to write to the credit card debt collector stating that they refuse to pay the debt, or that they would like the debt collector to stop all communication regarding the debt.
If a consumer follows this advice and refuses to admit to the credit card debt, by disputing it and denying it, and then writes to the credit card debt collector asking them to cease communications regarding the debt, that may cause the debt collector to decide to collect from other easier-to-deal-with consumers. For them to proceed with the task of recovering this debt, they will need to prove the debt exists by getting copies of original documents from the credit card company and sending them on to the consumer.
With an unsecured, unsigned credit card debt, a debt collector has to get the consumer to admit to owing the debt. Effectively they need an admission of “guilt”. The initial exchanges between consumer and the credit card debt collector set the tone of all communications between them. If a consumer denies and disputes the alleged debt, and also forbids further communications, often the collector will look for an easier target.
Matt Highlander researched and wrote the Credit Card Debt Survival Guide for consumers seeking to educate themselves about credit card debt relief.