Collection agencies have now become quite active in the financial market. There is nothing surprising in this, as banks continue to actively sell bad debts to debt collection companies, and they, in turn, are terrorizing (by legal and illegal methods) non-paying borrowers.
And although everyone perfectly understands that this is their job, quite often people take the threats of collectors and their various tricks related to pressure on the borrower too close to their hearts. Therefore, immediately I want to tell you that the law is on your side. In fact, employees of debt management companies do not have the powers that they like to tell naive debtors. They cannot in any way affect you and your property within the framework of the law, even regardless of your bank debts. For this reason, they call you, exercising psychological pressure to force you to pay off your debts. Otherwise, they are powerless and can recover the debt solely in court. This, in turn, is fraught with additional costs of a material and resource nature. It is much easier to say “pay” and wait until a person returns the funds taken. And so the ordinary debt collector works.
Now we are not talking, of course, that you can take a loan and not pay interest on it. Most often, the court finds you obligated to return the money - and you will pay in any case. But this is not about that now, but about the techniques that collectors work with.
In this article, we will pay closer attention to them in order to understand how employees of such companies are motivated and, nevertheless, how to deal with collectors and successfully resist them.
Classic set
Let's start with a description of the “standard” or “classic” set of tools that any agency works with debt collection. It all starts with a call. This is a standard procedure during which company employees try to establish a relationship with the debtor, talk with him about the loan and find out his intentions, according to which strategy the borrower will act next. On the one hand, he may agree to pay off the debt, but let's say that he does not have money for this until a certain period of time. That is, a person will show his interest in making concessions to the company, but he can sincerely inform that he has no funds and will ask him to look for a way out of the situation.
There are other cases (more often than the previous ones) - when the debtor begins to somehow react negatively to claims - does not make contact, directly refuses to pay. In both cases, the collectors “do not stand on ceremony”, violating all the rules of the rules. It can be both calls at night, and insults of the borrower, threats against him.
Unfortunately, all these are real stories told by people who have encountered workers in a debt bureau. And those who fall into them, most often, do not know how to behave, what collectors can do and how to get out of this whole situation. Therefore, in this article we will just try to collect all the information necessary for this and help you.
Confrontation and protection of their rights
To begin with, we note the general concept of your behavior - do not be afraid. In fact, the fact that collectors are threatening is their normal work, they do not act by other methods. Imagine yourself if you were in their place and you did not have real leverage to make a person pay. You would also use verbal threats and intimidation. If you yourself have become a victim of this approach - try not to lose control of yourself and do not be afraid.
In such a situation, it is important to show the collection agency employee that you are firmly and confidently in your position. Yes, you have a debt to the bank, and yes, you cannot pay it off at the moment. But this does not mean anything, and, moreover, does not give anyone the right to insult you. Get it first.
Any trick by this type of debt management company should be considered a violation of your rights. So, the collectors themselves give you the opportunity to punish them, to attack them with the help of the police and prosecutors. Take note of this.
Litigation
You need to understand that if the debt has been transferred to collectors, they may require repayment. That is, in court they will represent the interests of the creditor.
In reality, they can get some money from you exclusively in the courts. That is, you should understand that collectors threaten only at the stage of “processing” the debtor: they try to convince the latter in every way that it is more profitable to work with their company and it is better to sell all their property, but to return the debt to them. This is a natural belief, because companies of this kind live solely on the basis of repaid loans.
However, if they understand that the client is not making contact, they simply sue the debtor, demanding to collect the amount of debt from him. Perhaps the court will satisfy the claim only partially, having ruled that the defendant is obliged to pay, say, only a fraction of what is required. Therefore, your task is to prepare for this process as thoroughly as possible, communicate with lawyers, and try to “optimize” your property in some way, if possible. Everything must be done so that the court will award you to return less.
True, this is the topic of another article. In fact, we are talking exclusively about how to talk with collectors. And in this vein, I would like to say that before the trial they cannot do anything at all.
Rules for communicating with collectors
True, they will assure you otherwise. Therefore, you should resort to some rules that will protect you from the troubles associated with communicating with the annoying employees of collection bureaus. They, of course, need to be applied comprehensively in order to make it clear: you know about your rights and obligations, and you will not allow them to exert such pressure on you. As a rule, demonstrating this, you will notice how the course of the conversation changes.
We recommend starting with a complete fixation (in all possible ways) of what the collectors tell you. Read more about this in the next section.
Fixation
So, it’s clear that the employees of collection companies do not have the right to threaten you, demand the return of money in plain text, force you to sell some property and perform other similar actions. However, often they simply go beyond the limits of what is permissible and really “press” a person, pressure him morally until he really goes to sell a car / apartment. This is a simple but effective tactic. In the future, the debtor simply will not prove that he received threats, so this action will look like goodwill. You need to take care of this in advance.
Install a device for listening to calls and a voice recorder on your phone. You can start the first if collectors call you. When they begin the conversation, warn that everything is being recorded - this will already alert the employee of the agency and put him a certain “line” that cannot be crossed.
The second point - if collectors have come to your home, communicate with them, firstly, through a closed door (you have the right not to let strangers into your home); secondly, inform that the recorder is working - and all information will be recorded. Believe me, this will put them in a much less favorable situation than the one that developed initially.
Require confirmation
The second point is their authority. Formally, you do not know who they are.What if they are scammers who extort money from you? Therefore, ask them to provide confirmation that they have the right to demand repayment of your debt. If you don’t know how to talk to collectors, ask for documents! They must provide you with certified (!) Copies of their constituent documents, a loan agreement, a concession agreement, a license to process personal data, a statement of the flow of funds in your account, calculation of amounts, a power of attorney to the employee talking to you from the director of the agency, a copy of the collection agreement services. This is a considerable package, for the collection of which an employee of the company will take some (albeit minimal) time. And then, again, you will show your strength and knowledge.
Communicate Constructively
To continue this effect, try to communicate with the collectors as constructively as possible. Stay calm, be polite and courteous - and, believe me, they will be disarmed more than if you shouted at them. Calm opponent is always an unpleasant sign, including in this area. This is a great way to deal with collectors.
You have the opportunity to choose one of two behaviors: either agree with the requirements of the company’s employees and ask you to somehow give in to you (for example, restructure debt); either leave the conversation, drag out the process, by all means close oneself from a direct answer to their questions.
Complain
If your constructive dialogue is not being established due to the fault of an employee of the company who, for example, began to specifically call you at night, then you have the right to complain. The recording of the conversation will be excellent evidence, and you can submit your complaint to several bodies at once: to Rospotrebnadzor, the police, the prosecutor's office, and the Association of creditors. There are many ways to punish the entire local structure, as already noted, the law protects your rights.
Take at least those same night calls. For them, the collector who called you can be held administratively liable. Threats and extortion are criminal offenses at all (in the event that there is a real threat from the collectors). That is, you have a small arsenal with which you can start a “counteroffensive”.
Use psychology
If you are looking for ways to deal with sewers, don't forget about psychological tricks. Just like the staff of such agencies, you can use them for your own benefit. For example, avoiding the answer and delaying the procedure is a popular technique. They ask you a question, try to achieve a clear answer, try to provoke - and you just "go away." This tactic will take you a lot of time, but it is very interesting. And thus, you will make the actions of the collectors more predictable, deprive them of the opportunity to take the initiative. It is also very important to be able to properly “stretch” the moment in communication.
Write to the media
If you do not know how to deal with collectors yourself - seek outside help! After all, there are many newspapers whose audience could find out about your problem. Besides the fact that such an experience would help other people, you will also punish the agency with which you worked.
How to pay off a debt?
Another important piece of advice that you should definitely consider is the form and method of returning money taken from a bank. As practice shows, collectors very often require payment in cash, addressed directly to employees. Because of this, it happens that a bewildered debtor simply gives his debt into the hands of an employee. I think it’s not worth specifying what happens to these funds further: it is clear that they are not repaying the debt.
Settlement with the bank is necessary only for those details that are indicated in the loan agreement. You should not change the form and method of payment just because the collector requires it. Only if you pay the bills from the contract, you can, firstly, prove something in court if the payment is not credited; secondly, you will be sure that the original creditor received your funds.
findings
So, as you can see, collector calls are not so scary as it might seem at first glance! The main thing is to remember your rights, firmly uphold them and in no case show your weakness. Always remember that the Law really protects you from people like those who work in this area. Therefore, they cannot do anything.
