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1. Head Off Harassment Before it Happens
-Call the creditor, and explain why youre late with your payments. In most cases, a agreement will be done, without the problems with a collector agency.
2. The Cease Letter
Write the collector a cease letter. Federal law requires collection agencies to stop their dunning after they receive a written request to stop. The federal law does not apply to creditors collecting their own debts, but even these creditors will often honor such requests.

3. The Attorney's Letter
You don`t need a attorney, but in some cases this could be the best thing to do. Collection agencies must stop contacting a consumer known to be represented by an attorney, as long as the attorney responds to the agency's inquiries. Even though the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act requirement does not apply to creditors collecting their own debts, these creditors also will generally also contact the attorney instead of the consumer.
4. The Work-Out Agreement
While you may be happy in negotiating a large debt down to small monthly payments, even this may be offering too much to the collector. Prioritize your debts. Even a small payment to an unsecured creditor is unwise if this prevents payment of your mortgage or rent. There are better ways to stop debt harassment.
5. Complaints about Billing Errors
Collection letters are sometimes in error, mistaking the amount due or account number, or billing the consumer instead of the insurance company.Collection agencies, by law, must inform you of your right to dispute the debt. If you dispute the debt in writing within 30 days, the collection agency must stop collection efforts while it investigates.
6. Complaining to a Government Agency
Another strategy is to write to government agencies responsible for enforcing laws that prohibit debt collection abuse. A government agency is not likely to investigate immediately unless it has other complaints against the same collector. Nevertheless, sending a copy of the complaint letter to the collector often produces good results. If the collection tactics include abusive telephone calls, a copy of the same letter should be sent to the local telephone company and public utility commission. If the collector's abusive behavior appears part of its routine practice, this should be pointed out to the agency.
7. Bankruptcy
When you file your initial papers to institute a personal bankruptcy, this instantly triggers an automatic stay. This stay stops all collection activity against you by collectors, creditors or even government officials. No further collection activity can proceed unless a particular collector obtains permission from the bankruptcy court, and the bankruptcy court will not grant this permission to collectors seeking to contact you about unsecured debts. Filing for bankruptcy is thus a very effective means of stopping debt harassment.
Nevertheless, a bankruptcy filing is not your best strategy where your only concern is debt harassment. Bankruptcy should be saved for much more serious financial problems. In fact, you should be wary of any attorney offering to file bankruptcy for you when the only problem is debt harassment.

Learn more about this author, Erlend Brynildsen.
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