{"id":48,"date":"2016-11-15T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-15T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/can-i-go-jail-owing-money\/"},"modified":"2020-04-15T22:01:42","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T22:01:42","slug":"can-i-go-jail-owing-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/can-i-go-jail-owing-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Can I be sent to jail if I owe money?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Debt Collection Harassment<\/span><\/h2>\n

Debt collection contact can be stressful and intimidating, especially iwhen you feel threatened. Debt collectors sometimes use abusive tactics<\/a>, like threatening a lawsuit when none is intended, or threatening IRS reporting or tax consequences.<\/p>\n

Collectors may also tell you that you can go to jail for owing money. This is a tactic that is used to intimidate, and has no legal standing. You can\u2019t go to jail for owing money.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Law is on your side<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act<\/a> (FDCPA) is the main federal law that governs debt collection practices. It prohibits debt collection companies, or law firm collectors, from using abusive, harassing, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect debt from consumers. Whether you owe the debt or not, collectors are never allowed to intimidate, harass, threaten, or abuse you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cease & Desist Collection<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

If abusive collectors continue to contact you, send a Cease and Desist letter and request that collection calls and letters stop.\u00a0 The collector is not permitted to contact you after receipt of this letter.\u00a0 However, this does not mean the debt goes away.\u00a0 Typically, the debt is assigned to a new collection agency, or possibly a law firm collector, to begin a new collection effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

Attorney Representation<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are represented by an attorney that is handling your debts, the collector is not permitted to contact you.<\/span>\u00a0You must notify the collector of your attorney’s name and contact information and request that any contact about your debt be made directly with your attorney.<\/p>\n

Third Party Contact<\/strong><\/p>\n

Collectors may not contact anyone but you about your debt.\u00a0 If family member, co-workers, neighbors or friends are contacted by a collector about your debt, your consumer rights may have been violated.<\/p>\n

Seek Free Legal Help<\/h2>\n

Flitter Milz is a nationally recognized consumer protection law firm that represents victims of abusive collection tactics.\u00a0 Contact Us<\/a> for a free evaluation of contact from debt collectors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Debt Collection Harassment Debt collection contact can be stressful and intimidating, especially iwhen you feel threatened. Debt collectors sometimes use abusive tactics, like threatening a lawsuit when none is intended, or threatening IRS reporting or tax consequences. Collectors may also tell you that you can go to jail for owing money. This is a tactic … <\/p>\n

Continue reading Can I be sent to jail if I owe money?<\/span> →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[41,52],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2034,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions\/2034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}