Business & Finance Credit

Credit Card Debt Collections

Credit cards are an appealing way to get what you want and pay for it later.
But the problem is that interest rates change, fees are charged for numerous things, and one day, you get your bill and the amount is huge.
This makes monthly payments difficult to meet and everyone knows that once you miss a payment, everything changes.
Missed or late payments usually result in a higher interest rate being charged.
Missed or late payments lead to big late fees.
All of this adds more and more to your debt.
What started out as a small amount can quickly skyrocket to an unaffordable number.
Once your credit card debt gets so high that you can no longer afford to make payments, your account will become delinquent.
After delinquency, if you still do not pay the card off or catch your payments up, the credit card company will close your account.
They will then be likely to sell your account to a credit card debt collections agency.
This is a separate company from the credit card company.
It is independent and the only job for this company is to collect debts.
If your account gets sold to a collection agency, then you should prepare for the different tactics that they will use to get you to pay off your debt.
Collection agencies will normally begin by notifying you with a letter.
The letter will state who the debt is owed to and the amount.
They will ask for immediate payment or contact.
Your rights should be listed somewhere on this letter, telling you what you can do if you do not agree with the debt.
After several attempts to get results from you by mail, the agencies will resort to phone calls.
There are specific acts in place that prevent them from calling too early in the morning or late at night.
But they will call and they will be persistent.
Collection agencies are not allowed to verbally abuse you or threaten you.
If you feel as if a collection agency is not abiding by the rules and regulations, you need to contact the proper people.
You can start with contacting the agency and speaking with a supervisor or manager.
The best way to avoid having to deal with collection agencies at all is to pay of your debt.
If you do find yourself struggling, get in touch with the credit card company and see if a compromise can be reached.
Do whatever it takes to avoid the account being sold to a collection agency.
Once this happens, your credit score will take a severe drop.
This is something that you may never get back up or, if you do, it can take years for it to happen.
Always do your very best to paying off your debts.
Even better, try to avoid accumulating debt at all.


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