By nature, creditors are nice when paid, but once you start missing payments, the relationship can go downhill. Of course, it makes sense that creditors want their money, just like you want your money from an employer. However, many creditors and debt collection agencies treat you inappropriately. It’s something you deserve to be angry about if they’re calling you night and day, being rude, and generally ruining your day.

Is this really that big of a problem? Yes, creditor harassment is a very big problem. In fact, 2009 saw creditor harassment not only continuing, but on the rise. Even in 2010 creditor harassment is still a major problem. Studies pointed out that debt collection agencies and creditors in general caused more complaints in 2009 than in 2008. This is common during tough economies, you might think, but it doesn’t make it any better. For one, creditor harassment to most extents can be illegal. There are tens of thousands of complaints to the Federal Trade Commission every year. For example, in just the first half of 2009, the Federal Trade Commission Reported 45,000 complaints about debt collection agency practices, a significant increase over the first half of 2008.

What are creditors doing to cause complaints? It may seem obvious – calling people like you night and day. Contacting your work. Contacting outside family members. Calling you into the night or very early in the morning. Some are even contacting consumers asking for payments on things they never bought. Still more are saying people owe more money than they really do.  In the worst of cases, creditors are acting like some form of government or law enforcement agency, threatening seizure of assets like homes and cars if no payment is made.

So there are a lot of reasons for complaint. What can you do? If you’ve truly fallen behind in debts, you may think paying them gets creditors off your back. In fact, you may be paying on the wrong debts or nonexistent debts. You will never be arrested for debts, unless a court orders it (which is quite rare). If they threaten to take your wages, it’s usually beyond their ability to do so unless they win in court against you. If they threaten to take your home, there is some truth in this statement. Technically, creditors can take you to court and obtain a lien on your property; that’s if they win in court; chances of that are slim.

You can stop creditor harassment in a variety of ways. If you really have a lot of debt, filing Georgia bankruptcy is one move to make. But don’t do it just because you have creditors harassing you. If that’s the case, you can write the creditor a letter asking them to stop contacting you; by law they must agree to this. Bankruptcy has many advantages, and stopping creditor harassment is one. Creditors will have no reason to call you anymore once the courts are involved; if they continue to call you, refer them to your lawyer.

Creditor harassment works because they strike fear in you. Take back control of your life. If you’re unsure of your rights, contact a lawyer.