You come back home from a day of running errands to find the landline answering machine lit up like a 4th of July celebration.
Every one of the messages that filled the inbox came from a debt collection agency.
After the first couple of messages, the tone of the customer service representative making the call turned irate, with a few threats of taking legal action sprinkled in for good measure.
The problem is not only the aggressive demeanor of the company employee, but also the fact that you do not owe any money on the alleged account mentioned in the phone messages.
Fortunately, you can lean on a groundbreaking federal consumer law to end the threats and overly aggressive debt collection tactics.
You can also send the third party debt collector a debt dispute letter that acts as a formal request for the bill collector to cease all forms of communication with you.
Written into the law by the United States Congress, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) represents the ultimate consumer bill of rights.
An Overview of a Debt Dispute Letter
Before the passage of the FDCPA, consumers had no choice but to take the abuse handed out by unethical debt collection agencies.
The debt dispute letter clause of the FDCPA levels the legal playfield by granting consumers the power to contest debts that either do not exist or are attributed to the wrong consumers.
Simply calling a third party debt collector is not enough to motivate the company to follow through with a dispute request.
You need to send a formal letter that is preferably written by a state licensed consumer protection attorney.
You FDCPA lawyer should use convincing, yet polite language when crafting your debt dispute letter.
Writing any letter to a third party debt collector that includes emotionally charged language gives the company incentive to come after you harder.
You should also send the debt dispute letter by certified mail to ensure the bill collector receives the written correspondence.
The FDCPA gives consumers 30 days after the first contact with a bill collector to send a formal debt dispute letter.
![Sample Dispute Letter To Benuck & Rainey*]()
Sample Dispute Letter Sent to Benuck & Rainey
The following is just an example of a dispute letter you can send to Benuck & Rainey.
To whom it may concern:
A representative from your company recently left me several voice messages on my home answering machine.
The messages not only crossed the line of decency as spelled out in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the alleged debt mentioned repeatedly in the phone messages is not my legal responsibility to pay off.
My FDCPA lawyer has advised me to request that your debt collection agency present evidence that I am obligated to take care of the debt in question.
Until you clearly demonstrate the debt is my responsibility to pay off, the FDCPA states your company can no longer contact me in any way.
Violating the FDCPA no contact requirement is grounds for me to file a lawsuit seeking monetary damages.
Sincerely,
Your name
Never allow a third party debt collector bully you into paying off a debt you do not owe.
Schedule a free initial consultation with an experienced FDCPA attorney.
Additional Resources
*Disclaimer: The content of this article serves only to provide information and should not be constructed as legal advice. If you file a claim against Benuck & Rainey or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.