A debt collector’s goal is to convince the consumer to pay as much as possible on a loan owed. It doesn’t matter to the collecting agency if they use harsh language, pose as a lawyer, bug your boss, or even cannot prove the debt is legally yours.

This is why the federal government created the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to set the national standard for collection agencies. The FDCPA, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, prohibits abusive collection tactics that harass you or invade your privacy.

But a debt owed is a debt owed, and creditors will get away with as much bending of the law as possible. Best to know what debt collection laws work for you.

You have the legal right to tell a collector to stop contacting you. You must write a letter telling them to stop contacting you. Keep in mind this doesn’t make the debt go away or stop the collector from reporting your behavior to the consumer credit agencies.

You can ask the collector to legally prove you owe the debt. Tell the collector he has five days within contacting you to notify you in writing that you owe his company money. Proof includes a written document with your name, the name of the creditor suing you, the amount being sued and a clause stating your right to dispute the account within 30 days.

No collector has a case if they cannot provide proof. The collector is not under any timeframe to get back to you to prove you owe the debt. What they will likely do next is sell the debt off to yet another collection agency. Steps are therefore continually repeated on your end.

Report the agency to the Federal Trade Commission. If you feel you are being harassed or a law is being broken – even on a debt you owe – you have the right to file a complaint with the FTC or with your state’s office of Attorney General. In some cases, you can even sue the agency. Complaints against these types of business have skyrocketed in the last couple of years.