Debt Refinancing Guide

One of the biggest problems that debt collectors face is locating their debtors. When a debtor moves to another house in another state, the collection agency often has no clue how to locate him. So, how do collection agencies track runaway debtors? The solution is easy ? they hire skip tracers.

Skip tracers are people whose sole mission is to locate debtors who moved without giving their new contact details to the collection agencies. Sometimes, skip tracers are employed to help legal collectors find the addresses of assets that are to be repossessed.

You may wonder how skip tracers locate people. The process is actually rather straightforward. The easiest way is to use the debtors? social security numbers. They run the social security numbers through various refinancing-guide/credit">credit bureaus. What they get are header files from the debtors? credit files or credit reports. A header file only has basic information like the name, address and in some cases, the place of employment. As little as this information may be, it?s all that the skip tracers need to help debt collectors find their debtors.

If the skip tracer cannot find the debtor through the social security number, he can do a national identifier search. Simply put, this is an old school system that uses the debtor?s last known residence as well as his name to find his new location.

The skip tracer may look through these sources:

Phone book
Online directories and search engines ? The debtor may have accounts in various websites, like myspace, livejournal or facebook. If not, there may be people on the internet who may have written entries about him or posted his pictures.

The Department of Motor Vehicles
If the debtor drives or has a license, it is likely that the DMV has recent information about his whereabouts.

Employers
If you know the debtor?s last place of employment, the skip tracer can approach his boss and inquire about his current employment status. Even if the debtor has moved to a different job, the employer may still have information that can help the skip tracer locate him.

Associations and other groups
If the debtor has a specialized occupation, like Engineering or Medicine, he must have membership in certain organizations. The skip tracer will try to search through these groups to find the debtor.

Former contacts
The skip tracer may visit old neighbors, friends and relatives to get some information about the debtor?s current location.

When trying to get information about a certain debtor, a skip tracer faces a lot of potential legal troubles. In order to prevent these, the skip tracer should not falsely represent himself as a member of law enforcement or a detective. Also, the skip tracer may experience legal troubles if he tries to get the cell phone numbers of the debtors.

The best way to protect yourself from harassment is to know the exact job description of your debt collector. If you know the things that his job entitles him to do, you can keep better track of his behavior and take action when he violates your rights. To know the debt collector?s job description, you need to have a thorough understanding of the 1977 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This act literally outlines the Fair Debt Collection Practices. It tells you the practices that are acceptable for debt collectors. It also informs you of practices that are unacceptable under the eyes of the law.

So, according to the Fair Debt Collection Practices, what are the debt collector?s responsibilities towards you?

Basically, the debt collector owes you information. If the debt collector is trying to get you to pay up, it is only right that you are fully informed of the circumstances surrounding your debt. This means that within five days of initial contact, the debt collector must send you a written document that contains information such as the amount of debt you owe and the company or institution you owe it to. The document should also let you know the steps to take in the event that you believe you do not have that debt and you should not be held responsible for it.

If you file a letter to dispute the debt, the debt collector will stop contacting you until he comes up with evidence that proves that you truly owe that money. As part of the Fair Debt Collection Practices, the debt collector must send you a receipt to prove that he has received your complaint. Also, the debt collector has to mail any evidence that proves that you are responsible for the debt.

Fair Debt Collection Practices are aimed at protecting the debtor?s privacy. As such, if you wish to put a stop to the debt collector?s calls and visits, you must write a letter to indicate your intention. Once the debt collector confirms receipt of your letter, you can expect him to stop contacting you.

Aside from these things, the Fair Debt Collection Practices also forbid your debt collector to do the following:

1) Contact you via phone or make personal visits outside of the time period between 8:00 am and 9:00 pm.
2) Approach your family and friends in an effort to locate you.
3) Come to your workplace for the purpose of contacting you, verifying your employment or acquiring information regarding your salary.

Fair Debt Practices are exactly that ? fair. It means that while you have individual rights, the law also provides guidelines to ensure that the debt collector can do his job well.

So, you may have missed some payments on your mortgage. Or, you may have failed to respond to calls from your creditor. Despite the fact that you may have failed to keep your end of the contract, you still have the right to be treated fairly during the process of debt collection.

Fair debt collection involves the use of proper tools to evaluate your situation. It also gives you ample time to respond to the notification of the debt collector. In order to ensure that debt collection is carried out fairly, the congress passed the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or FDCPA.

The FDCPA ensures that there are guidelines that will protect you when you communicate with a debt collector to settle your accounts. The act states that the debt collector cannot intimidate you with false threats. He cannot scare you into thinking that you will go to jail if you fail to make payments on time. He cannot insult your race or make any negative references to your gender. He is also not allowed to talk to you using obscene and profane language.

Fair debt collection also protects your privacy. This means that debt collectors are not allowed to tell other people about your debt. They cannot put you in a place of public shame and humiliation in order to pressure you into paying. If the debt collection process is to be fair, then it is only right that you and your debt problems remain private and personal. More importantly, fair debt collection gives you the right to sue your debt collector if you feel that he is being abusive, aggressive or dishonest.

Fair debt collection means that even though you have failed to make some payments, the debt collection agency will still respect you and value you as a client. This means that you are given the opportunity to approach your debt collector and request for a change of payment scheme. Once you show that you intend to pay, you are allowed to renegotiate the structure of your debt. You and your debt collector will come up with a payment scheme that you can afford. This is what fair debt collection is about; it gives you a legal environment in which you can come up with an effective way to settle your debt.

So, if you have debts, do not panic. The United States of America has put in the necessary legal safeguards that will allow you to coordinate with debt collectors without fear of harassment or abuse. You won?t be arbitrarily driven out of your home or anything like that. The FDCDPA ensures that there is a fair debt collection process that will respect your rights as an individual and a customer. In the end, fair debt collection should help reduce the stress and anxiety that are brought about by the entire process of settling a debt.