What is a cease and desist letter and how does it help me?


Answers about cease and desist letterWhen you’re dealing with a debt collector, you have the option to send them a cease and desist letter.

This letter states that you either refuse to pay the debt, or that you want them to cease communication.

When you send that letter, they’re supposed to follow the rules.

They may send you one letter that states something along the lines of, “We may take further action against you, but we will not call or write you anymore.”

What’s the advantage of this?

It stops the calls.

What are the cons of sending this letter?

It doesn’t really do anything.

If you are dealing with an abusive debt collector, will they care about this letter?

If you’re dealing with a collector that’s willing to:

1.) Call your neighbors.

2.) Call your family.

3.) Threaten to sue you after the Statute of Limitations has expired.

4.) Re-age your account on your credit report to keep things on there that shouldn’t be there anymore.

Are they really going to care about a letter with words on it?

No.

They’ll just lie about receiving it, even if you do send it by certified mail.

In the future we will talk about absurd examples of collectors lying about certified mail.

Even if they admit they got your letter, they’ll just sell it to someone else.

You may be wondering, “Who would buy debt that has a cease and desist letter attached to it?”

Oddly enough, there are companies that advertise on their website about their specialty in buying cease communication debt.

Because when they buy it, they believe that once it’s theirs, that cease and desist letter doesn’t apply to them.

Since they believe this, the new collector will send you letters and harass you because they know that it bothers you.

They may be able to convince you to pay the debt since they can call and write you.

They may be aggressive in contacting you.

Or, they may just sue you.

Cease and desist letters can be helpful in the short term

However, it’s rare that they actually are effective.

The best plan of action to actually deal with the debt collector

If they’re following the law, that’s fine.

However, if they’re breaking the law, sue them in Federal Court.

Make them pay money damages to you.

This will punish them for breaking the law.

Feel free to contact us

If you have any questions about whether you should send a cease and desist letter, or you’ve sent a letter and they keep calling you, feel free to call us at 1-205-879-2447.

You can also fill out a contact form and we will happily get in touch with you.

I look forward to chatting with you!

Have a great day.

-John G. Watts


2 Comments

  1. Sharon Underwood says:

    I have an attorney who sent out a cease and desist letter after a vehicle I put in my name for someone who couldn’t at the time-so the other person is a cosigner. The cosigner stop making payments and I received a letter from the company that it was repo on 6/26/19 and about a month or two later I got a letter for a deficiency balance of 13K. I sent both letters to my attorney and that’s when he sent the letter to the company. My biggest worry is that I am approved for a mortgage loan and having a house built and I am afraid of a repo showing up on my credit before I close. I was told by someone that the company was supposed to send me a certified letter of all of this according to the Alabama uuc code, but I only received the letters after everything happened. Can you give me some legal advice or help me PLEASE?

    • John Watts says:

      Sharon,

      Since you have an attorney you need to go through him.

      Have him look to see what the contract says — does it give an address where all notices will be sent? (Usually they just send one letter not one to each cosigner at different address).

      Was there a letter sent out after the repo but before the sale?

      Then one after the sale?

      Best wishes

      John

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