Whenever I meet with a potential client, I always ask them what brought them in this particular day. Although many have been thinking about bankruptcy for a long time and have finally gotten around to learning more, some people come into my office because they’ve been served with a lawsuit or been told that their next paycheck will be garnished. Others come in because debt collectors have been hounding them with phone calls and stuffing their mailboxes with demand letters.
The Federal Trade Commission recently released a notice to be on the lookout for fake debt collection letters and phone calls. These look letters look completely official. They appear to be on a government agency’s letterhead and will sometimes even include a judge’s signature. Callers will claim to be from law firms. Oftentimes these letters and callers will claim to be owed money from a payday loan. They’ll ask to be wired money and try to intimidate people by telling them if they don’t pay, the sheriff will be out to arrest them.
If you get a call or letter like this, do your homework. Do an Internet search and see if there are reports of other people getting calls or letters from the agency. Do a search for the agency and call them to verify that they actually sent out a notice. Make sure that the debt is real.
Most of all, don’t give out credit card or bank account information to anyone you don’t know.
If you’re being overwhelmed by letters and phone calls from debt collectors and would like to know if bankruptcy is a good option for you, we hope you’ll come in for a free, no-obligation consultation with an experienced Colorado bankruptcy attorney. Just call 303.331.3403 or use our online scheduling system to set up an appointment today.