People get loans in order to achieve some economical stability and to obtain most material possessions. Almost everybody uses credit cards, borrows money to purchase a car, or gets a mortgage to own a house. For one reason or another sooner or later people fall behind on their monthly payments; this is when debt collectors appear.
When you acquire the responsibility to pay a credit card, a personal loan or similar, you become a "debtor". If you miss one payment or an error is made on you accounts, the "debt collector" will contact you. This approach must be done under the best of circumstances and the debt collector is required to treat the debtor fairly and politely. No abuses are allowed; moreover, they must follow certain rules to approach you.
In the past debt collectors were allowed to call you at unusual hours, leave embarrassing messages at work, and send harassing letters. Due to the big number of complaints, in the seventies Congress enacted the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (the "FDCPA").
The FDCPA applies regardless of the debt condition that the person possesses. It was founded to protect debtors by setting limits to the action of creditors and debt collectors. Among some of the limitations that they must respect are: contact you at convenient hours, possibly not at work; they cannot use offensive language or call you repeatedly with the sole purpose of annoying you by using a false name and others.
Common sense will let you know if you are being victim of an abusive debt collector. Remember that you have the right to tell them to stop contacting you. You still have to pay what you owe but do not let them harass you!