How is this possible? Debt collection scare tactic again??!?

I have wrote a few questions about my brother and a debt agency. Last week he told them he would be able to pay the debt off completely and that he was mailing it with a money order. He talked to his "rep" and a supervisor. Both said it was fine. 100% fine.
Then today, he called to check if his last payment had been credited to his account. It had, but this woman he had never talked to started laying in to him about "risking" sending his payments through the mail. She reminded him his account was in pre-legal. My brother is tired of this. All over $700 this company has called him late into the night, badgered him to pay by phone (this guy did to. He talked about the convenience of paying with a check by phone) and has been told for over a month now how he was going to see legal action. He has kept notes and is done. I have never heard of a company that would make such a demand when they are getting the money the next day. How is this legal?

They said he could send the money in the mail but for a month they have told him to give his checking account info to pay by phone and they would not sue. That doesn't sound very legal.

It is never a good idea to pay off debt with money orders. Buying a money order is not proof of payment. All payments of this sort should be made by check so you have proof of payment (the cancelled check). It sounds like he has paid and there is no further need for this company to bug him. A lesson learned - this company is not one with which he wants to do any more business.

you should read a book by Kevin Trudoue called DEBT CURES


it helped me alot

Try this website:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/cred...

Fine line between collection and badgering. There is a chance with a slow account of a MO getting screwed up in the mail and putting his account at risk; but that's his risk to take.

These collectors will use any and all tactics that they can dream up to badger a person. In the first place, it would cost them more to sue your brother than the debt is worth so I seriously doubt they would sue him (they say pre-legal to scare people) and in the second place if he is still getting calls that is called harassment (harassment is illegal). He needs to tell them the next time they call that they are illegally harassing him and to STOP now. They know that they have to stop so he shouldn't be bothered again. The attempt to get the check over the phone is just another form of harassment and is not legal.

it is but it will go away. When they tell you they need a check by phone, they just want your account numbers so in the future they can just charge youra ccount if need be.

There are no problems with sending a cheque by post as long as its not a cash cheque and made out too the debt agency. Why they dont like accepting cheques is simply because it takes longer to process and there is a processing fee incurred on cheques, normally 5-10 working days to process cheques, if the cheque bounces then he will incur extra costs on top of what he already pays as the debt agency would have to pay the processing of the cheque.

Imagine the thousands of people who say they will pay the next day but dont, they hear this all the time we will pay tommorrow but dont see the money. There tryign to run a business and dont know you's personally and just go off prior experiences.

He should have just paid the initial lot of money before it got to a debt agency, he is too blame not the agency as there the last resort for bad business transactions

"The checks in the mail" is an old line. Collection agencies have heard it all before.

Until a valid payment has been received and credited, your brother will be liable for the debt and they will keep after him.

If the $700.00 debt is so menial, why didn't he just pay it off to begin with?

You can't expect to owe people money and them not to make every effort to collect it. There's no such thing as a free ride.