"Collections" refers broadly to the many tools that creditors have at their disposal to obtain payment from debtors who are not paying what they owe. There are many Franklin County, Ohio laws and regulations concerning the conduct of collections agencies, and what they can and cannot do in order to collect.

What if I Am Owed Money in Franklin County, Ohio?

If someone owes you money and won't pay, you have some legal options to seek repayment of your debt. However, you need to be careful in this area. There are many laws and regulations detailing what debt collectors can and cannot do. Breaking these laws, even inadvertently, can harm your chances at collecting, and maybe even expose you to civil penalties.

For example, it should go without saying that creditors are not allowed to use threatened or actual violence when trying to collect. They are also not authorized to use abusive language to the debtor, or contact a third party about the debt.

What you can do, however, is send an invoice of the debt to the debtor, along with a firm (but civil) demand for timely payment. If the debt is considerable, you might also want to hire a collection agency in Franklin County, Ohio. You should make sure that any agency you hire is dependable, and has not been cited for violations of the laws governing collections.

What if Someone Is Trying to Collect Money Against Me in Franklin County, Ohio?

Of course, if you owe money and have the ability to pay it, you should do so. If the collections caller is behaving civilly, you should do the same. In any case, it is never a good idea to ignore the issue, because that will definitely not make it go away.

Your best option in Franklin County, Ohio might be to contact the creditor directly, and try to work out some type of new repayment plan. The sooner you do this, the more receptive to your ideas the creditor is likely to be. If this isn't successful, you can demand that the collectors stop contacting you by phone, and they will normally be obliged to do so. Of course, this doesn't make the debt go away, and you should only take this route if you are prepared to defend against a lawsuit from your creditors, since demanding that they stop contacting you typically leaves them with no other option but to sue.

If you have hired a Franklin County, Ohio attorney to help you through this process, he or she might advise that you declare bankruptcy. Once this occurs, creditors are legally barred from attempting to collect against the debtor. Of course, this is a major decision, and should not be made lightly.

How Can a Franklin County, Ohio Collections Attorney Help?

If you believe that a creditor is violating the law in its attempts to collect from you, you should get in touch with a Franklin County, Ohio attorney, since you might actually have a claim for damages against the creditor.

If you are thinking about bankruptcy, a good Ohio bankrutpcy attorney can help guide you through the process.