This is a post by a somewhat famous New York bankruptcy attorney named Jay Fleishman. He runs a blog and is easy to find on the net. He is a very prolific writer. In a post on his blog today he gave out the following advice which I consider to be very dangerous advice indeed. He isn't the only one giving out the same dangerous advice to unsuspecting people needing help. The same bad advice is being given out for many years now and it is wide spread and found in most debt validation letters commonly available. If you send a cease contact letter the chances are you will be sued in short order because you have left the debt collector no other way to contact you. Even sending a partial cease & desist is dumb advice because FDCPA makes no provision whatever for a partial cease & desist. Its either all or nothing as far as FDCPA is concerned. I've seen debt collectors advocate filing suit if the words cease & desist are used in a demand for validation just to be on the safe side. So why would anyone want to use the words cease & desist when FDCPA gives you explicit wording to use that cannot be construed as a cease & desist demand? Dangerous advice from a lawyer who is supposed to know better.
CapOnesucks may be right regarding the cease & desist issue - however you can always end the cease/desist ketter with the note to contact you via mail ONLY.
I agree with Cap1. Why not just say that it is inconvenient to receive calls at any time at any number. By using the same language, it's clear that you're invoking the FDCPA clause.
That's my favorite line. The C&D approach says, according to the FDCPA, don't call me unless you want to sue me. I don't think I'd push my luck with that approach.
I can't understand why someone would actually want debt collectors to stop calling them in the first place. If I were to write a debt validation letter I would put my phone number in two different places. One at the top of the letter and then again at the bottom just below my signature. I'd have my full name, address and phone number at the top and at the bottom. That way I'd be inviting them to call me as much as they want. The last sentence in my letter would say something to the effect that it is inconvenient for me to receive phone calls at my home or at my place of employment. Then I'd sit back and hope they hounded me day and night.
