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Are you having problems with professional debt mediation? Getting phone calls during odd hours of the night?
Money being deducted from your bank account without your authorization? Those who don’t know what this agency is or does are debt collectors who also buy debts from creditors.
The agency is governed by the FDCPA (fair debt collection practice act) law, among other regulations, to protect debtors from harassment.
If you are a victim of the circumstances mentioned above, this article will shed light on your protection laws and actions.
Protection Laws Against Professional Debt Mediation
FDCPA
The FDCPA (Fair debt collection practices act) is a federal law that protects you against professional debt mediation.
Under this law are the stipulations of what a collection agency can and can’t do during debt collection.
Remember that this law applies to all US residents. If any collection agency harasses you, remember that you have rights under the FDCPA. And it’s important to know what your rights are under this law.
FCRA
The FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) is a law that ensures all information in your credit report is authentic.
In addition, the law also grants you the ability to dispute any form of inaccuracies on the report. Debt collectors, including professional debt mediation, can report credit on your credit report to obtain leverage.
The debt firm may then tell you to pay the debt if you want that debt information eliminated from your debt report. The good thing is that law firms in the US have dealt with such cases, e.g., Agruss Law Firm.
On the other hand, both the original creditor and the debt collector should provide accurate information on your credit report, even if the original creditor is the one on the report, instead of the company assigned to collect the debt.
In addition to protection from debt collectors, including professional debt mediation, most US states have laws that provide affected citizens with lawyers.
An example is North Carolina State which has one of the friendliest statutes countrywide. Individuals residing in the state are eligible for monetary damage recovery obetween $500 and $4,000 if they report harassment by any debt collector.
Remember, that amount is per violation. Generally, if you’re a North Carolina residence, you can be sure that you have leverage if a debt collector harrases you.
TCPA
The TCPA (telephone consumer protection act) is a law meant to protect you from automated or recorded calls from and other related debt collection tactics.
If the professional debt mediation violates stipulations under this law, you might receive about $500 per phone call.
How can you know that these annoying phone calls are robocalls? If there’s no response on the other end of the line or a delay before someone picks.
It would be best if you had the recordings of these phone calls to use against the professional debt mediation.
EFTA
Professional debt mediation and other debt recovery agencies usually set recurrent payments for consumers.
The EFTA (Electronic Fund Transfer Act) is a law that protects you from payment deductions from your bank account.
If any company hired to collect a debt, deducts any amount of money from your bank account to settle your debt without your authorization, you can use the EFTA against them.
So, if you agree to such recurrent payment plans, there are specific steps they must follow under EFTA guidelines.
Other reasons to use the EFTA law against collection agencies include; if they deduct an amount exceeding the recurrent or the whole debt amount and continue deducting money from your bank account after telling them to stop.
Can I sue Professional Debt Mediation?
The three main reasons why you can sue any debt collector, including professional deb mediation, are if they engage in:
1. Unfair behavior
2. Being deceptive
3 Using abusive language
Since professional debt mediation buys debts from creditors, they pay less than the original amount to their consumers. Some creditors would rather receive a fraction of the actual amount than nothing.
Often times debt collection agencies cans be aggressive in debt recovery because they want to make money.
So, once professional debt mediation is knocking on your door or ringing your phone, know they’ve invested in your debt. Once their methods cross over to unlawful behavior, suing them is one of your legal options.
As you already know, the FDCPA prohibits debt collectors from harassment. Some harassments you can sue against include:
1. Calling you at work despite warnings from your employer
2. Contacting someone else apart from your attorney
3. Threats of taking legal actions without any intent
4. Coercing you to pay the debt by lying
5. Calling you past 9.00 pm or before 8.00 am
6. Adding your name to the list of bad debts
7. Pretending to be a lawyer
Remember that you’re eligible for monetary damage recovery if you sue the agency and win.
If you lose, you can end up paying as much as $1,000 in attorney fees alongside actual damages. Plus, you won’t get punitive damages.
Remove Professional Debt Mediation from Your Credit Report
If there is any inaccurate information on your credit report, removing professional debt mediation from your credit report is possible.
According to PIRG, about 80% of credit reports countrywide contain critical mistakes and errors.
As you already know, the presence of professional debt mediation or any other debt collectors in your credit report can tarnish your credit score.
One thing you must know is they can remain on your credit report for up to 7 years. That applies to whether or not you’ve settled your debt.
The worst thing at times is; your credit score can significantly lower after paying the debt buyer.
So, if you want to remove professional debt mediation from your credit report, then either of the methods below should be sufficient.
1. Hiring an Xpert credit repair to help with the problem
2. Sending the collection agency a direct dispute to challenge their tradeline
3. Reporting the professional debt mediation to the credit bureau by sending them a dispute.