Debt collection phone calls in the US are actually highly regulated, but you wouldn't know that if you have been receiving collection calls. This is because debt collectors often do not know the law, or they simply decide not to follow it. The following is a list of things that are illegal for debt collectors and collections calls. They may not:
1. Call anytime after 9 PM or before 8 AM, or call at any times that the collector should know are inconvenient. This means that if you tell a debt collector that a time is inconvenient, he must stop calling you;
2. Use threats of violence or harm;
3. Swear at you or use obscene or profane language;
3. Tell other people that you owe a debt;
4. Use the telephone to annoy you or others;
5. Call you at work after your employer has told them not to make this sort of call.
6. Make false statements to collect a debt. Collectors cannot lie to you in order to get money. This includes saying that they are from the government, or that owing money is a crime, or misrepresenting the amount of money you owe;
7. Tell you that you will be arrested. You will not be arrested for having debt;
8. Contact you by postcard
9. Deposit post-dated check early;
10. Threaten to take property in which the collector has no rights. For example a credit card company cannot threaten to take your car or tv.
If collections companies are calling the safest way to make them stop is to hire a bankruptcy lawyer. As soon as you have a lawyer, the collection agency must call the lawyer, and must stop calling you. You can also send a letter to the collection agency asking them to stop calling. The agency must stop after receiving one of these letters.