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Q: Can Credit Card Company call me late at night? ( No Answer,   4 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Can Credit Card Company call me late at night?
Category: Business and Money > Finance
Asked by: puffs-ga
List Price: $5.00
Posted: 21 Apr 2004 21:06 PDT
Expires: 21 May 2004 21:06 PDT
Question ID: 334153
I've lost my job about a couple of months ago and I'm currently having
a financial difficulties due to no income. I have not been able to
make credit card payments for over a month now. And now, Discover Card
started calling me everyday. To be honest, I'm dodging their phone
calls, because I can't promise anything to them for now. I'm trying to
get a job first and then call them to make a payment arrangements.

However, what bothers me is that they call me so many times, probably
more than 10 calls a day. The earliest hour they called me was around
8:00am and the latest hour was 11:30 pm. They started calling me since
last saturday and they even call me on the sunday.

I know that collection agencies cannot call after 9pm or on sundays,
but how about credit card companies? Are they allowed to call me
anytime of the day and any day of the week?

I currently live in florida and have about $5000 debt with Discover Card.

This is my first time using this service, so I don't know how much to
set my price. I'll set my price for $5.00. I don't even have a lot of
money anyways.
Answer  
There is no answer at this time.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Can Credit Card Company call me late at night?
From: stressedmum-ga on 21 Apr 2004 21:45 PDT
 
Hi Puff,
Sorry to hear you're having financial troubles. I can't help you with
the code of conduct that your Discovery Card people should be
following, but I do know that you really, really need to call them and
explain your predicament and discuss with them some kind of solution
otherwise late night phonecalls will be the least of your problems!

They're a big company and there is no need to hide from them; you have
nothing to be ashamed of. Talk to them and you won't need to be
worried about nasty, late night phonecalls.

This is not what you asked for but it might help resolve the
underlying issue. This site is based in Florida and they might be able
to give you the information you're seeking as well as a way out of
this situation. <http://www.cccscfl.com/>

And just I've excerpted this from a website dealing with Student Loans
in Florida <http://www.floridanext.com/financial_aid/article_view.asp?id=314>
It provides information, in plain language, of the consequences of
getting behind in loan payments and it seemed pertinent to your
situation with your credit card. Basically, it ain't worth it!

Q. What happens if I?m late with my monthly payments?
A. Uh ... they come and take you away. Only kidding. You definitely
don?t want to fall behind. Paying on time establishes good credit ?
something you?ll need if you want to make big purchases later on, like
a car, an expensive stereo system, or a house.

Q. You?re avoiding the question, McLoan. What if I fall behind?
A. Okay, suppose you fall behind. If you?re part of our program, we?ll
call you to find out what?s up. That?s because you?re officially
?delinquent? on your payments. The important thing is to get back on
track and keep paying. If you?re still not paying after 270 days (like
9 months or so), you fall into the ?default? category. This is bad.
Really bad. Your credit gets messed up. You may not be able to receive
any more financial aid. And the government can take money directly out
of your paycheck and keep your tax refunds. It?s a real bummer.

Q. What if I have a good reason for not paying? Say I?m sick,
unemployed, or have major financial difficulties?
A. You?ve still gotta pay. But there are options ?built-in? to your
loan contract that can help you out. Let us know before you miss your
payments, and we can work on one of the three options:

   1. You can request a deferment, which is simply postponing your
payments until you start earning money. Contact your lender to ask if
you qualify for a deferment.
   2. Forbearance is a big word that essentially means ?break.? If you
can prove you have serious financial hardships, you can request to
delay payments until you can continue. You can also have your monthly
payments reduced. It doesn?t cut your debt. It?s only a break. And all
the while, interest is still growing on your loan, so in the long run
you?re paying more money.
   3. If you have more than one loan, you might want to consider loan
consolidation. Basically, it?s taking out one loan to pay off all the
others. Now you?ll only have one monthly payment ? for up to 30 years.
While this plan is tempting, do consider how much more you?ll pay in
interest if you choose this option.

Good luck.
Subject: Re: Can Credit Card Company call me late at night?
From: probonopublico-ga on 21 Apr 2004 22:28 PDT
 
Puffs, Stressesdmum is absolutely right ...

You must talk to Discovery as soon as you can or the trouble will escalate.

It's tough if you haven't got a job, I'm sure but, if you don't make
the minimum monthly payments, the whole loan is likely to fall due -
which means even deeper trouble.

Of course, if there is absolutely no way you can see your way clear
then you may have to consider other possible actions.

So, answer their calls; be positive and be cheerful!

And step up that search for a new job!

The Very Best of Luck!
Subject: Re: Can Credit Card Company call me late at night?
From: kriswrite-ga on 22 Apr 2004 08:46 PDT
 
this appears to be a foggy area of law. Debt collection laws state
that collectors can't call you before 8am or after 9pm, but some law
sites online claim this doesn't apply to credit card companies
themselves (see this Google cache:
://www.google.com/search?q=cache:2P2fVloqA4sJ:biz.findlaw.com/bankruptcy/nolo/faq/FBFB935E-DB52-48CB-A64E2502F91AE24B.html+%22bill+collectors%22+calls+night&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
 ) 

My best advice is similar to what you've already heard; call them!
They are more apt to be pleasant to deal with if you call them first.
Explain your situation. Offer them some monthly amount, no matter how
small. If they won't accept it, at least you've shown a willingness to
comply. It's not likely that the credit card company itself will
threaten you (that's more along the lines of what collection agencies
do), but if they do, hang up. You don't have to listen to it.

You should also read "Fair Debt Collection" by the FTC:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fdc.htm

I hope this helps,

Kriswrite
Subject: Re: Can Credit Card Company call me late at night?
From: soulsister979-ga on 07 Aug 2004 01:22 PDT
 
This is pretty shifty, but tell them you filed a "Voluntary Petition
for Chapter 7 in US Bankruptcy Court for the {your district} of
Flordia."  Attorney: pro se (you're doing it yourself).
Case number: 8 numbers  

This will get them off your back right away--at least 30 days while
they wait to be notified by the court.

I fell on hard times too, and tried to deal with Discover--they simply
were not willing to do anything for me to get back on track.  Other
creditors were willing to reduce interest rates and lower
payments..discover would not.  I Dealt with several of their nasty
phone calls and actually declared bankruptcy (I don't recommend it).

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