Sunday, March 9, 2008

Tired of debt collectors hassling you? If so, Read this

Here is a great article I found on Ending harassment from Debt collectors and raising your credit

End Harassment from Debt Collectors and Repair Your Credit

Did you lose your job? Have you suffered some form of medical emergency? Are you being forced to endure any other cause of financial burden due to your loss of income? You are not alone. Millions of people have to face the accumulation of debt that they cannot pay. Miss a single or a few payments and you can expect a not-so friendly call from a debt collector.Receiving such a call at your workplace can be quite inappropriate and worst of all, utterly humiliating. Some debt collectors will hunt you down until you pay up.Debt collectors are generally compassionate to individual situations on a personal level, but they have to disengage themselves from this level to focus on what their job entails. It is no surprise that anyone who is deep in debt fears the rather ambitious debt collectors. Frequently, debt collectors are rewarded for successfully collecting debt payments. Their commission is based on the acquired payment amount. Consequently, the greater payment collected; the greater their reward.Rights of a Debt CollectorIt is legal for debt collectors to contact you by phone, fax, mail, telegram and in person. They may contact you at home and in your workplace, but are restricted to if they are informed that your employer prohibits it. They should not be contacting you before 8am or after 9pm unless you have clearly given them permission to do so.Unless you don't have one, debt collectors should be contacting your attorney. Debt collectors are also allowed to find out necessary information about you through other people. They are allowed to obtain your telephone number, place of employment, or address from anyone. However, they are normally not permitted to divulge confidential information to these people, such as the fact that you owe them money. Debt collectors are allowed to contact these people only once.I Want Them to Stop Contacting Me!You can choose not to be contacted further by debt collectors, whether you owe money or not. This can be achieved by writing them a letter informing them that you no longer want them to contact you. They may then get in touch with you one last time to state that they will no longer contact you, or to explain the appropriate actions that may be taken against you.Putting an end to these exasperating calls will not automatically settle your debt payments. If you firmly believe that the debt has already been cleared or you do not owe them money, make sure to state it clearly in your letter.Your Rights Against HarassmentConsumers are protected by the Fair Debt Collection policy implemented by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). Knowing your rights will keep even the most determined debt collector at a distance. Debt collectors are prohibited from harassing individuals. They are not allowed to abuse, nor oppress you or anyone they might be able to use in order to get to you. Harassment generally includes the use of obscene language, non-stop calling or threats of violence.Debt collectors who are falsely representing themselves are breaking the law. They should not misrepresent themselves as government agents or attorneys. They cannot say they are representing a credit bureau if that isn't the actual case. If they are not sending any legal documents, they should not indicate that they are. They may not accuse you of crime if you did not commit a crime. Additionally, unless they have been legally instructed to, they are not allowed to seize property, withhold your income, nor imply legal action to be taken against you.If you would like to know more about your rights, you can get all the information you need from the FTC. If you would like to report an agent, this can also be done by contacting the FTC, or your state's Attorney General. Furthermore, if what they are doing is illegal then you have every right to sue.

Special thanks to Gene Pimentel

Tired of debt collectors hassling you? If so, Read this

While looking through the internet I cam across this fantastic article

End Harassment from Debt Collectors and Repair Your Credit

Did you lose your job? Have you suffered some form of medical emergency? Are you being forced to endure any other cause of financial burden due to your loss of income? You are not alone. Millions of people have to face the accumulation of debt that they cannot pay. Miss a single or a few payments and you can expect a not-so friendly call from a debt collector.Receiving such a call at your workplace can be quite inappropriate and worst of all, utterly humiliating. Some debt collectors will hunt you down until you pay up.Debt collectors are generally compassionate to individual situations on a personal level, but they have to disengage themselves from this level to focus on what their job entails. It is no surprise that anyone who is deep in debt fears the rather ambitious debt collectors. Frequently, debt collectors are rewarded for successfully collecting debt payments. Their commission is based on the acquired payment amount. Consequently, the greater payment collected; the greater their reward.Rights of a Debt CollectorIt is legal for debt collectors to contact you by phone, fax, mail, telegram and in person. They may contact you at home and in your workplace, but are restricted to if they are informed that your employer prohibits it. They should not be contacting you before 8am or after 9pm unless you have clearly given them permission to do so.Unless you don't have one, debt collectors should be contacting your attorney. Debt collectors are also allowed to find out necessary information about you through other people. They are allowed to obtain your telephone number, place of employment, or address from anyone. However, they are normally not permitted to divulge confidential information to these people, such as the fact that you owe them money. Debt collectors are allowed to contact these people only once.I Want Them to Stop Contacting Me!You can choose not to be contacted further by debt collectors, whether you owe money or not. This can be achieved by writing them a letter informing them that you no longer want them to contact you. They may then get in touch with you one last time to state that they will no longer contact you, or to explain the appropriate actions that may be taken against you.Putting an end to these exasperating calls will not automatically settle your debt payments. If you firmly believe that the debt has already been cleared or you do not owe them money, make sure to state it clearly in your letter.Your Rights Against HarassmentConsumers are protected by the Fair Debt Collection policy implemented by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). Knowing your rights will keep even the most determined debt collector at a distance. Debt collectors are prohibited from harassing individuals. They are not allowed to abuse, nor oppress you or anyone they might be able to use in order to get to you. Harassment generally includes the use of obscene language, non-stop calling or threats of violence.Debt collectors who are falsely representing themselves are breaking the law. They should not misrepresent themselves as government agents or attorneys. They cannot say they are representing a credit bureau if that isn't the actual case. If they are not sending any legal documents, they should not indicate that they are. They may not accuse you of crime if you did not commit a crime. Additionally, unless they have been legally instructed to, they are not allowed to seize property, withhold your income, nor imply legal action to be taken against you.If you would like to know more about your rights, you can get all the information you need from the FTC. If you would like to report an agent, this can also be done by contacting the FTC, or your state's Attorney General. Furthermore, if what they are doing is illegal then you have every right to sue.

Special thanks to Gene Pimentel at http://www.articlesbase.com

Keeping your kids active. The internets fault, or the parents?

Keeping kids active today is becoming increasingly difficult. Most parents blame video and computer games for this, as well as the Internet in general. While those things have certainly contributed to a more sedentary lifestyle, it is really up to the parents to keep children active as much as possible. One of the best ways to do this is to stay active with them. Young children often play outside with others in the neighborhood, but there are some children that do not fit in with their peers, and there are also children that grow up in neighborhoods where there are no other children or where it is not safe to play outside without adults. For these children, and for others that are not getting enough exercise, parents must work to keep them active. Taking them to the park is helpful, but after a while this ceases to be interesting, so parents must find other ways of ensuring that their children stay active. One way to do this is to have them take a class such as martial arts or ballet where they will get consistent exercise. If a parent can take the class with them, that is even better, but some classes are designed only for children. Naturally, a kid should not be forced to enroll in something that he or she will not enjoy, regardless of whether exercise is needed. For children that do not want to enroll in this kind of structured activity, though, there are other options. Playing Frisbee or horseshoes or badminton with parents or other relatives can help a kid stay active, as can outdoor play with friends. This does not mean that a child should be forbidden to play video games or watch television. However, the time spent doing those things should be limited. This is especially true if the kid is not in a physical education class at school or if he or she makes no effort at all to get any kind of exercise. Children that stay active are less likely to be obese, and they often have fewer health problems as they get older, making staying active very important for them both now and in the future.

special thanks to Dave Roth from www.articlecity.com
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