phone collectors

[CarolinaBlueEyes]

What can you say on the phone to a collector to cause damage to your situation.. besides promising payments or even worse giving them one

[BayStateMom]

You can admit the debt is yours. That would be damaging.

[CarolinaBlueEyes]

in NC from what I have read you can admit it but unless its in writing it does not matter... see if you get the same thing out of this I do

From the NC General Assembly

§ 1‑26. New promise must be in writing.

No acknowledgment or promise is evidence of a new or continuing contract, from which the statutes of limitations run, unless it is contained in some writing signed by the party to be charged thereby; but this section does not alter the effect of any payment of principal or interest. (C.C.P., s. 51; Code, s. 172; Rev., s. 371; C.S., s. 416.)

[divemedic]

Remember that this is what they do- get debtors to admit to things on the phone. Don't let them pick the battlefield.

[CarolinaBlueEyes]

Remember that this is what they do- get debtors to admit to things on the phone. Don't let them pick the battlefield.

which is why I stay off the phone 99% of the time

[Robert Nashville/Savannah]

Aside from the legal implications of admitting something or taking responsibility for something that you should not; the primary reason to stay off the phone is to not give a collector that chance to do what they do best – to use emotion to get you to do what your logical mind would never allow you to do.

For anyone in financial difficulty, the only long-term solution is to take real control over your finances. As the saying goes, “you will either learn to control your money or the lack of it will always control you”. That means, among other things, that you do the dreaded budget and stick to it and you prioritize what you need to do with your money.

None of us would logically pay a Visa or MC bill or pay off an old doctors bill before our rent or car payment or put food on our family’s table yet that happens every day; a CA will say whatever he needs to say to get you angry enough or guilty enough or sad enough or embarrassed enough or shamed enough or even “friendly” enough to pay his six year old out of statute bill even while your house is heading for foreclosure and the repo man is hooking up your car in your driveway.

CAs train all the time to know what buttons to push…if they find out you are a Christian they’ll use that against you to shame you into paying your bill the next time they talk to you…if you tend to be a bit “timid” they’ll pick up on that and browbeat you until you would pay them anything just to get away from them or they’ll simply harass you so much you’ll pay just to make the phone calls stop.

It can be fun to turn the tables on a CA and push his emotional buttons but not many can do that successfully…for 99% of us, the best policy is to stay off the phone and stick to written correspondence and let logic and rational thought prevail.

The only time it makes sense to use the phone is near the end of/working out the details of a payment arrangement before it’s put to writing.

If it isn’t in writing it didn’t happen – use the written word and stay off the phone.

[cavazos007]

I always say "Nope don't know what you talking about...why don't you just send me something through the mail maybe I'll remember then"