Why is it when you sit down to enjoy dinner the phone will ring? You get up to answer the phone because it surely must be a family emergency, or something important. But no, once you lift the phone off the receiver, you immediately are greeted by a very foreign voice militantly asking who they are speaking to. It’s a debt collector.

You’ve ignored the debt collection letters, or perhaps you’ve already made arrangements. Yet, despite all of this, someone decided to be unfair and send in the telemarketer sounding brigade of debt collection callers. Each adept in the practice of nearly harassing you into the ground and each, even the females, unfairly named “John.” Debt collection is an amazing field. The harder off and less able someone is to provide for a family, the more debt collection comes into play. It seems unfair, but merits some explanation.

Even if you’ve made arrangements to settle in person, or through the mail, complicated computer software unfairly ignores that fact when it sends out a nightly report to debt collection agencies. These agencies, staffed with autodialers repeat the same form letter, and go through a list of collection strategies and techniques to help get you to pay them money. Even if you’ve filed for bankruptcy, and had outstanding debts wiped away, debt collection will continue. It’s unfair but it happens for a reason. The principle reason for unwanted debt collection calls is that once a debt if failed upon, even when dismissed, it remains outstanding. Other agencies actually buy this debt from companies. Often debt collection firms will buy a debt for pennies on the dollar, with older debts commanding even lower prices.

In turn, debt collection agencies will call. No matter how many times you try to tell them you are not the person they’re after (they’ll refuse to remove your name and number, despite saying in a very friendly tone that they’re “entering it into the system” as that’s one of the first tricks employed by debt dodging people who actually should be receiving fair and warranted debt collection calls.) they’ll still call. You could try screaming like a maniac hoping to intimidate the debt collection agent into leaving you alone, however, chances are good that they’ll merely sever the phone connection and an autodialer will call you back ten minutes later.

Screaming is a bad tip, it will not stop unfair debt collection practices. Neither will refusing to answer a phone. Remember, a human has nothing to do with the debt collection until your phone picks up. Another tip is to answer these collection calls. By laying your phone off the hook, the machine calling you will only get confirmation that hey, someone has this phone number, and they don’t want to answer at (insert time). Autodialers are programmed to recognize a good time to maximize annoyance, and they will interpret your busy signal in such a manner as to schedule another call earlier in the day, but keep calling at this exact same time.

The first tip to avoid unfair debt collection is to subscribe your telephone to caller ID, and buy necessary items like a pen and pad.

Secondly, register yourself with the Federal Trade Commision’s do not call registry either online at www.donotcall.gov or via telephone at 1-888-382-1222 from your home telephone.

Third, make sure that when you do receive unfair debt collection calls, to keep a level head and speak as politely as firmly possible. The people on the other end are in business to collect money, and no amount of attitude is going to make them all the sudden grind their business of unfair debt collection to a halt.

The next tip to eliminating unfair debt collection practices is to log the phone numbers, times of call, and the name of the debt collection agent calling. Each time you get a collection call allow the speaker to say “Hello this is John, is Mr./Ms. X home?” Take this time to record the collectors name and phone call details from Caller ID and the speakers introduction. Reply with a polite and firm request to identify the agency the speaker is calling from. Next, ask to speak to a supervisor. Only supervisors are allowed to do anything fair inside debt collection firms. The person who actually speaks to you when you first lift the phone is hardly any more powerful or able to assist you than the autodialer.

Once you speak to the supervisor (who will actually generally have a REAL name), make a point to write his name down. Explain your circumstance. Cite the fact you are a victim of unfair calling practices, you have been called x many times, and have spoken y many times about ending the collection call. Ask the supervisor the name of his or her agency. If there is any hesitation in his ability to identify his agency, offering a somewhat menacing “my rights” speech about you have a right to know the name of any debt collection firm as you have registered with the do not call registry.

Also explain that you consider the nature of the calls you are receiving to be harassment. Tell him/her that these calls disrupt your life, and you are getting calls despite having resolved your personal debt collection issue in a legally binding fashion. Lastly, very strongly emphasize that you will not be satisfied with anything less than an end to unfair debt collection calls and will make use of any legal options that are necessary to end a call if they are unable to either directly assist you or refer you to someone who can.

Informing a supervisor of this, with diligence will put you on track with ending unfair calls from debt collectors, as society is paranoid of lawsuits. Keep at executing this tip with each and every agency that is unfairly calling you. Remember, however, if a debt collection firm is fairly calling you, they’ll find out, and the calls will continue, and no amount of lying will ever grant you peace.