Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Maryland

Re: Effect of a payment offer on a suit

If you tell a debt collector to stop calling you, they must stop. If they continue, they may have violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Re: Effect of a payment offer on a suit

You ask a fairly generalized question about collection practices and your understanding is correct. There is nothing you can do to force the creditor to accept less than they are entitled to according to the contract (though you have options in bankruptcy of course). However, there is also no reason that you (or your credit counselors) cannot contact the creditor directly rather than going through the collection agency (though they certainly have the right to tell you that they only want to discuss through their collection agent).

Most of the major creditors will work through a bona fide credit counseling agency (in fact the major creditors actually provide funding directly to at least some of the bigger credit counseling agencies). So, you may have success if you can get around the collection agent (who typically gets paid a percentage and benefits greatly from lump sum payments).

If the creditor is harassing you by telephone, you can always instruct them that you want only to be contacted about the debt in writing, in which case they must cease calling you or they will be in violation of the fair debt collection act.

Lawrence R. Holzman, Esquire

Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, P.A.

6404 Ivy Lane, Suite 400

Greenbelt, MD 20770

(301) 220-2200

fax (301) 220-1214

Disclaimer: Please note that the posting of this response is not intended to constitute legal advice. You should contact an attorney to obtain information applicable to your situation. This posting is not confidential or privileged and does not create an attorney/client relationship.