Creditor Harassment Attorney in Jackson, Mississippi

You’ve fallen behind on your credit card and other debt obligations, and suddenly your phone is ringing with demands for payment. Your email, text messages, and mailbox are likewise flooded with calls for action to bring your debts up to date. Is there no limit to what creditors and bill collectors can do to “harass” you into paying? 

Actually, there are limits set by federal and state statute that protects you from excessive, unethical, unreasonable, and even illegal tactics. You just have to know your rights and how to exercise them. If push comes to shove, you can always declare bankruptcy, not only as a way to obtain a fresh financial start but also to stop all creditor actions while you pursue your bankruptcy filing. 

If you’re overwhelmed by debt and creditors demanding payment in or around Jackson, Mississippi, contact us at The Law Offices of Wes Stover. We understand all applicable laws regarding debt collection and will analyze your situation to provide you with sound advice on the best legal steps to take going forward, even if that includes a Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  

We proudly serve clients not only in Jackson and Hinds County, but also the entire Southern half of the State of Mississippi, including, including Jones County, Madison County, Forrest County, and Rankin County. We have offices in Jackson and Laurel and we also offer phone consultations, if necessary.

Call The Law Offices of Wes Stover today at (601) 401-8996 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)

On the federal level, which means the law applies to all creditors and consumers in the United States, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) of 2010, legislated after the Great Recession that began roughly in 2008, singles out “the use of abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors,” finding existing laws “inadequate” to deal with these practices that can lead to “personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs, and to invasions of individual privacy.” 

Accordingly, the FDCPA established new guidelines and standards that debt collectors must follow. A debt collector’s bottom line is that they cannot: 

• contact you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., unless you agree to it; 
• contact you at work if you tell them you’re not allowed to get calls there; 
• contact you by email or text message if you ask them to stop; 
• call you more than seven times within a seven-day period or within seven days after talking with you by phone about a particular debt; or, 
• privately message you on social media if you ask them to stop. 

Though debt collectors are initially allowed to contact you via phone, private message on social media, and by mail, text messages, and email unless you object, they must provide “validation information” to do so within five days of the first contact.  

This validation information must include their name and mailing address, the name of the creditor to whom you owe money, how much money you owe including interest, fees, payments, and credits, your rights if you don’t consider it your debt, and what to do if you don’t believe it is your debt. 

You can send a letter to the bill collector or creditor to ask them to stop contacting you, which they must abide by unless it wants to inform you that it is planning a specific action such as a lawsuit. 

Mississippi law also places limits on debt collection efforts. First, it sets the standard that they must go to court to receive a judgment against you, and that the statute of limitations to do so is generally three years, which rises to six if there is a contract involved for the sale of goods under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). The FDCPA still remains the law of the land in how creditors and collectors can contact you. Will Bankruptcy Stop Creditor Harassment?

Once you file for federal and state bankruptcy protection, you will be granted what is called an automatic stay. This prevents creditors and bill collectors from contacting you and trying to collect from you. This stay gives you time under Chapter 13 to form a reorganization plan to pay off your debts at least partially using your “disposable income,” which is computed after all living expenses have been factored into your monthly income.  

You then make a monthly payment to the bankruptcy trustee, who in turn pays each creditor an equitable portion. After three to five years, you will be discharged from your unsecured obligations. Secured obligations such as homes and cars must be paid for separately and on time if you wish to keep them, though Chapter 13 does allow for arrearages to be satisfied as part of the reorganization. 

Chapter 7 is the liquidation plan, meaning that assets can be sold to satisfy debt obligations to the best extent possible. The automatic stay is still applied, but as in Chapter 13, if secured obligations are not being met, the lender or mortgage holder can petition to have the stay lifted to proceed with repossession or foreclosure. The stay does, however, give you time to pursue loan mitigation, and it also frees you from endless phone calls and other collection efforts while you do so.