Stop Bill Collectors!

Writing an effective collection agency letter seems like a daunting task. However, armed with a few facts about fair debt collection law, you really only need to write one paragraph to stop all collection calls and mailings dead in their tracks.

Sample collection agency letter to cease and desist collection efforts

Collection Agency Name
Address
Anytown, USA
DD/MM/YYYY

RE: Debt Collection Against: Your Name
Your Account
Creditor Name

Dear Collection Agency Name,
I am writing to your concerning Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692c(c) and request that you cease and desist all communication to me immediately.

Sincerely,
Your Name

Simply send a copy of this letter to each agency that you are dealing with. Make sure you include all relevant account numbers and send the colelction agency letter with some form of tracking (i.e. delivery confirmation, registered or certified mail). Tracking is vitally important. If you don’t do this, collection agencies will toss your letter in the garbage and claim that they didn’t receive it.

You can find a copy of the fair debt collection practices here, but it’s a lengthy, legalese document. The part that specifically applies to this post is on page 6:

“If a consumer notifies a debt collector in writing that…the consumer wishes the debt collector to cease further communication with the consumer, the debt collector shall not communicate further with the consumer with respect to such debt.”

There are a couple of exceptions, notably that the collection agency can contact you to tell you that they are terminating further collection efforts, or to notify you that they are taking a form of action (like taking you to court).

One copy of this letter to each agency will stop all phone calls and mailings. Although this is technically the legal way, the likelihood is that new agencies will crop up, or your debt will get sold. Then the calls and mailings will start again. The best way to permanently stop the letters is to “change” your address and phone numbers, see:
how to get rid of collections letters in the mail and how to stop harassing bill collector calls.

Related posts:

1. Cease and Desist Letter: Vital Information Often Overlooked by Debtors
2. Gotta Love That Cease and Desist Letter!
3. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act FDCPA in Plain English
4. The Simplest Way to Stop Creditors From Calling You
5. Debt Collector Harrassment: Craig Cunningham’s Secret Weapon

This entry was posted on Friday, October 9th, 2009 at 4:49 am and is filed under communicating with agencies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.