In their attempt to recover the debts the some unprofessional collection agencies or collection attorneys may resort to certain unlawful and unwarranted procedures or intimidation tactics. The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) has been structured to protect debtors in such circumstances.

These collection agents come across as very forceful people always armed with the necessary answer on the tip of their tongues. They may act aggressively as they are paid according to the amount they collect and have to meet the set targets. However the act forbids them from calling you more than thrice on a day. If they continue calling you it can be legally termed as harassment. You can also request them not to contact you on certain days or during your office hours.

You can completely stop them from calling by writing a "Cease and Desist" letter and mail it by return receipt mail so that they cannot deny having received it. It is illegal on their part to refuse or avoid the letter but the onus of legally enforcing the letter lies on you.

You can always ask the agency to provide the proof of the debt. If you are being sued you may request the attorney or agent to hand over to you a FDCPA Verification. This may gain you some valuable time that you can use to prepare for the court sessions and will surely frustrate the collector as he cannot take any action till the verification is provided to you.

The next stage is to file a SWORN DENIAL. It should be notarized and submitted to an attorney and the court. This states that you are not indebted and will require the collector to present before the court a live witness to give evidence that the debt is valid. Thus you can temporarily halt proceedings.

The following stage is to file DISCOVERY with the attorney and the court. This is a written certificate stating the request for production of documents. That is demanding the original signed document upon which the debt is based to be submitted to the court. Now as you cannot afford an attorney to fight your case, you will have to defend yourself in court.

Thus, INTIMIDATION is the only weapon that collection agencies and attorneys have in their armory. The secret lies in not getting intimidated by them and being courteous towards them at the same time.