I haven’t lived with my Dad in 12 years, yet they keep calling him, multiple times a day. I am not paying these any time soon.

What are the laws about this?

The following answers DO NOT answer my question:

- "Pay off your debts"

-"Take responsibility and call the collectors."
(Unless I can present them with some law they are breaking, this won’t stop them from calling my Dad’s)

Your father should report them to the state attorney general’s office. If you are an adult and haven’t lived there in twelve years, he has nothing to do with your loans unless he co-signed for them. Additionally, he should go on the do not call registry ( both state and federal) and follow up by writing a cease and desist letter. Next time he receives a dunning call, he should take all the information down–name, address and fax number, and follow through with the State Attorney General and with the Cease and Desist letters. If he still gets no relief, he should change his phone # to an unlisted one. Best of luck to you both.

Why > How
Have you ever worked for years to accomplish a specific goal only to find disappointment at its completion? I have. More than likely the disappointment was due to achieving an arbitrarily selected goal rather than our true intention. For instance, I might believe getting a better job is the answer to my problems when in actuality my intention is to have a better quality of life. If I get completely focused on getting that better job I may completely reject or ignore any and all opportunities along the way, because I’m focused on a goal of getting a better job instead of my true intention of achieving better quality of life. So in this instance quality of life is my “why” and getting a better job is “how” I believe I can accomplish my desired change.

Emotions give momentum and power
What I suggest is that we focus on why, not how. Of course it’s not a bad idea to plan things out, but to get tunnel-visioned on the how can blind us to all of the millions of potential ways the universe can provide a why solution. Have you ever worked for years to accomplish a specific goal only to find satisfaction from a seemingly random, coincidental or even bizarre event? I have. The why provides an emotional charge, motivation, vision and intention. It’s just so easy to get emotionally attached to the how because it’s tangible, measurable, definable. Yeah, all the things they tell you are important for goals. Well they are important, just don’t get emotionally attached to a goal! Selecting good goals is important but not as important as remembering what motivated you to make a change in the first place! Emotions give us momentum and power, don’t lose it!

Use the wisdom of a 5 year-old
Why is it so important to focus on intentions instead of goals? Having an emotionally charged focus on intention is not only powerful but allows for dynamic goals! That means we have our eyes open to achieving the real intention and the goal can be changed at any moment. This model for achieving change and growth in our lives not only allows for flexibility but also encourages a greater understanding of what really inspires the change. That’s the fun part… using the wisdom of a 5 year-old! In my experience, answering “why?” around 7 times will uncover you intention. Give it a try! I made a quick example:

Start with the goal: I want a better job
1. Why? I want more money and I want to work better hours
2. Why? I want to pay off debt and I’m sick of working weekends
3. Why? I’m tired of collectors calling me and I want the same days off as my friends
4. Why? I want to stop worrying about money and I want more time with friends
5. Why? Financial peace of mind and a better social life
6. Why? I want to smile more, laugh more, and feel grateful more

The bottom line…
In the above example really 6 steps did the trick but you could add a seventh that summarized as “a better quality of life.” What it all really boils down to is having an open mind to really finding a solution to your desire and not getting caught up in just one possibility. Also the emotional charge of focusing on why is motivational and will empower us to accomplish more, faster and better than if we simply follow steps outlined in the how alone.

David Lynch
http://www.articlesbase.com/goal-setting-articles/the-why-gt-the-how-677152.html

When you are being harassed by a creditor because you are delinquent in paying a debt because of your situation it is so easy to start making payments without thinking in order to get them from harassing you. You should take several steps before you do make the payment to protect your credit reputation. You might have suffered from loss of employment, illness or other problem that made you get behind but this is no reason for you to get a bad credit report. You should request a copy of your credit report from your credit bureau. Find out if the creditor has made a bad report or stuck to the agreement that you made to him about paying back your debt. When you know that there is a possibility of slow pay or you need some grace time with a creditor get in writing the agreement so that the creditor does not have an excuse to report you as a bad risk. Make sure that when you are making this agreement the creditor understands that you are willing to pay the debt as agreed but he is not to start making reports against you in the meantime.

This works well when you only owe one or two debts, however, if you find that your debts are overwhelming you should contact a credit-counseling organization to work out a debt-consolidation plan. This might become necessary so that each one of your collectors will stop making harassing calls trying to get more money from you than you have to give. debt consolidation works very well for most people and is an excellent method to try when you are over whelmed with bills. You should stay away from service that offer you credit-repair or debt-consolidation loans as you find that you will be farther in debt and still no way out of your current situation.

Make sure that when you do start to pay a collector you have in writing the exact amount of any charges, fees, or interests that are attached to your account. You should make sure that only legitimate charges are being added otherwise you find that you are paying the collector three times the amount of the original debt. The collector is not the person to whom you made the debt usually so it is important that you know the collectors part in the debt making sure that you are not over paying on your account. Often you might make pay arrangements with the person(s) to whom you owe leaving out the collector saving both you and the person you owe. It is advisable to check out all your possibilities and make a written arrangement before you pay any debt collector.

All companies are different when you’re dealing with collectors. Remember, these are just people doing their job. They are trying to make a living like you. When they go home to their families, they may be in debt just like you. But none the less, after they make that call with you, they tend to forget all about you and honestly, they don’t care about your situation or getting your money at all.

Tom Tessin
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/what-you-should-do-with-debt-collectors-699096.html

Ours is the only listed phone number with our family name. Our extended family members have delinquent accounts and because of this, we receive numerous calls from their debt collectors. They leave mean messages assuming that they have reached their customer. It is so annoying and once they get a message, they continue to call back. We’ve tried to call the agency and tell them to remove us but it’s very difficult when they call from phone banks and such. We also relay the information to our family member in the hopes that they take care of the account.

Couple thoughts. Sounds like you’ve told them to put you on their Do Not Call list, which is typically a state and/or federal law. Google it for your state and find out. They’re required by law to comply. Secondly check out the "Fair Debt Collection" law (I think that’s the correct name of it) - there are laws about what time of day they can call, and that they cannot be abusive. In fact some of these laws stipulate if the call occurs past a certain hour of the day, it’s considered abuse. Other ideas: When you tell them next time to stop calling you - ask for a manager and tell them you are reporting them to your State Attorney General. (that usually works). Lastly; just an idea we used because we had just a guy calling us who kept asking for "Joe"…eventually my husband answered the phone (cause by this time we recognized the number) "Burger King". After doing this a few times, the guy figured he had the wrong number and stopped calling. Good luck!

I have never missed a payment on a payment agreement I made with a debt collector…how do I get them to stop calling? For some reason they call anyway even though they have recieved my monthly payment. Should I threaten to lower my payments I make down to just $5 a month if I get another phone call???

The folks above are wrong…they can keep calling you at home as long as you owe the debt. However, if you instruct them not to call you at work, they are required by law to stop call your job.

They are allowed by law to call you between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM 7 days per week. If they call you multiple times per day, that is considered harassment and you could sue them.

One good tactic is to tell them that you are recording their phone calls. They will not want to be recorded, and might not call as frequently.

Also, you might try changing your phone number and leaving it unlisted.

here’s the deal, they are calling for a woman I dont even know.

They’re trying to collect debt from some woman named Maria

Today a woman called and got snappy with me and basically said "I know you’re Maria and you can’t hide from us!"

I do not know a Maria and I JUST got this new number.

I keep telling them I don’t know a Maria and they don’t believe me!

What can I do?

Here’s an idea.
You don’t owe it, and the people calling you are clearly idiots. Have fun mocking them and making them mad.
I mean, are you kidding? Someone calling you and insisting that they know you are Maria!"
How funny is that? "You can’t hide from us" !!! That is classic!
Your response: "Well, come and get me you tool!"

Keep them on speakerphone while you’re on your treadmill, or peeling potatoes or whatever.
Make em think that you have finally cowered and are going to pay, and take down the information to which to send the money and then say, "Monopoly money is Ok, right?" (OR) "I’ll write you a check…for $1 million…(OR) Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you to kiss my a$$, etc, etc. Tell them stupid jokes; Practice your insults;
I can think of a dozen ways to turn this into cheap entertainment.

i got a few court fine couple of years ago now there are debt collecter coming to my flat broke one of my doors threw and left a letter saying i owe £2,321 what should i do because i am waiting to have a op on my knee so i cant work at the monment what can i do to stop them taking my stuff

they cant force entry (unless it is for unpaid taxes/ council tax i think) but they can come in through open windows so shut your windows. they can only come in if you invite them in but they may swear blind that you invited them in if you open the door. if you can prove that you cant afford to pay yet the courts will just look at your income and expenditure and tell you to pay a token payment of say £1 per month. they have to leave you enough to live on etc. just don’t open the door is my advice. try not to worry. if they harras you call the police and threaten the creditor that you will take action. don’t be bullied they can’t do that. in any case I dont think any creditor can seeze your assets unless its for taxes or if say a loan is secured on your asset(s). They may send letters saying they will but legally they cant. Good luck.

I have called each business and explained to them that they have the wrong number but they keep calling back after 3 months or less. Is there a way to get them to stop permanently or would I be better off getting a new number?

Same thing was happening to me. I called numerous times explaining they had the wrong number. I finally threatened with calling the attorney general’s office. That stopped them

I have called each business and explained to them that they have the wrong number but they keep calling back after 3 months or less. Is there a way to get them to stop permanently or would I be better off getting a new number?

Same thing was happening to me. I called numerous times explaining they had the wrong number. I finally threatened with calling the attorney general’s office. That stopped them

about a year ago, i got a new land line, and now i get calls about once a week from different debt collectors asking for "jane", and her boyfriend "andrew". For a while i know that Jane had a phone number one digit off from my number (one of my friends accidentally called and found this out for me). I feel like the debt collectors don’t beleive me, and recently found out that jane no longer has that similar number anymore, as she has moved out of state. Do they really stop calling if i pick the option that "i am not so-and-so"? It’s getting on my nerves now, and i don’t know how to put a stop to it.

I’ve had that happen to me. Collectors are used to people lying to them so when you tell them that they have the wrong number for Jane and Andrew, the collector just assumes you’re lying.

Ask to speak to a supervisor. Then explain to him or her that you are not Jane or Andrew. If you have a phone book that shows your listing, refer him or her to it. Insist that the company correct your records so that you are not called anymore.

Another tactic is to remind them that it’s illegal for a collector to provide information about debts owed by somebody else. Before you accuse him or her of anything, get as much information as possible. GThe name of the company, the caller’s name, etc. Now that you have the information, let the caller know that any further attempts to contact you will be reported to your state’s attorney general.

I hope this helps.
Gary