Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas

Absolutely! Record those calls! Don't pay them, as if you can get that on tape, they will owe you much more than they claim you owe them.

You need to understand that bill collectors do not have the power to file criminal charges. Only the district attorney can do that. If you merely own money and did not do anything wrong, such as try to pay with a hot check, there are no criminal acts. It is not against the law to owe people money.

It is not against the law to record a telephone conversation that you are a party to.

Howeer, it is against the law for bill collectors to violate the fair debt collection practices act.

If I am not mistaken, threatening to file criminal charges is a violation of that act. If he calls again, ask the collector for his name and address. If he asks you why, explain that you will want a name and address to provide to your attorney if he determines that the fair debt collection practices act has been violated. And yes, you are are recording the conversation. Then (if he as not hung up already), while batting your eyelashes, ask the collector what you can do for him.

Because you live in Texas, you have a lot of power. The most a collector can do is to file suit, obtain a judgment, and try to enforce that judgment from attaching or selling non-exempt property. This will cost him for more than what you owe. If you owe money to lots of people, you might declare bankruptcy and wipe out his claim.

If you don't want the collector to call you at certain hours, tell him. If you do not want him to call at all, tell him that you want him to communicate only in writing.

Collectors are businessmen. Chances are they purchased your debt at a discount. If you pay full price, they collect all of that discount. Their goal is to make you pay as much as possible. Your goal is to pay as little as possible.