Can a debt collector call my employer?

Feb 09, 2024 By Susan Kelly

What exactly is the venture of a debt collector?

Our lives are engulfed by the profused amount of financial difficulties. Every human being is conscious of the difficulties associated with inadequate family finance.

A seemingly simple, straightforward, sound solution to this problem is to beseech a loan. The implications of the solution follow.

As easy as it is to acquire a loan or debt, the repayment of the same becomes a humongous task. More sizeable the amount, the greater the hindrance to paying it back.

This pinpoints the arrival of debt collectors. On behalf of the creditor, they tail down the debtors to reclaim the original debt along with applicable interest.

In the vastly spread industry of money lending, it is not realizable for the creditor to run behind you for reclamation of his sum. Hence the appointment of debt collectors.

A debt collector hunts down the debtor to his place of residence or tracks his family for vital information. He implies every simple tactic to recover the money.

In return for his labor, debt collectors either receive a percentage of the original loan or a fixated sum of money. Either way, they do this for their living and not social charity.

Contact between your employer and the debt collectors -

As per (FDCPA) Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, there are a few boundaries that are set up between the debtor and collector. In general practice, these rules intend to safeguard the debtor from these collectors.

Legally speaking, the collectors are permitted to establish a connection with the debtor only up to a specific limit. If these collectors try to go beyond, they must prepare themselves for notices and warnings.

But can a debtor call my employer? This is a budding question that is prevalent in new and inexperienced debtors.

To put it unambiguously, yes. The debt collector may contact your employer.

The debt collector is authorized to connect with your employer while being anonymous about his identity. He may meet in person or call your employer for specific tasks only.

  1. A debt collector has all the right to enquire about your presence and active employment status from your employer.
  2. They can cross-verify your public details like full name, phone number, address, etc, from your employer.

And that is the termination of the discussion for them. They are not licensed to ask for any further particulars from your present or previous patron.

The debtor has no authority or assent to continue establishing a communication channel with your debtor. He can not call your employer in regard to your debts.

Following are the acts debt collectors are debarred from performing with respect to your employer.

  1. Since the loan is altogether your personal liability, the debt collector can under no circumstance reveal or extract the amount from your employer.
  2. In addition to this, FDCPA forbids debt collectors to let slip their identity or true purpose of contact with their employer.
  3. They are forbidden to influence your employer about your salary for debt reclamation.

Communication between you and the debt collector during work

So, can the collector call me during my work hours?

Truthfully, you can bar your debt collector from initiating any conversation during your work hours or at work. But there is some ambiguity in the system when considering this point.

First, the debt collector can call you at work if he is previously uninformed not to do so. He is legally permitted to contact you at work as those are official hours of communication provided to him under FDCPA.

If you let your debt collector know the rational cause not to contact you at work and you still receive his calls, you are entitled to a statutory claim for damages with $1000 per activity.

Furthermore, this detainment is only applicable if your employer refrains you from attending such calls during your office hours. Rest assured, there is only one employer who would be delighted to entertain any of your calls during work hours.

Second, even though the debt collector can be detained from communicating with you during work hours, the creditor can not be.

Meaning that you can not put a stop to your creditor if he chooses to visit or call you for repayment during your work hours. So, it would be best if you don’t let it slip your mind.

Ideally speaking, if you are ever tangled in such cases of debt non-reimbursement, your attorney is the person of contact for your creditor as well as the debt collector.

What actions are debt collectors unable to exercise

For the welfare and adequate protection of debtors from their debt collectors, FDCPA has issued a particular activity list that the debtors can not perform for the collection of their amount.

If ever caught or reported to violate the regulations or act out of bound from these activities, the debt collectors might face legal deterrent notice.

Call you irrespective of the hour

Debt collectors have permission to make a call to their prospective debtors only between 8 A.M and 9 P.M. Any calls that they make out of bound from these hours are considered unlawful.

Chase you for a debt not owned by you

Under no given circumstances should a debt collector pursue an innocent being. Being under the track of a debt collector for no law-abiding reason is a breach of fundamental privacy.

Arresting or attempting an arrest for debt collection

The debt collector is given no authoritative right to arrest a debtor for non-payment of the principal amount of the loan.

He can declare the person ‘pending ‘ and file a legal complaint but not arrest him.

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