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And you thought your debt collection agency was bad! A website recently made a list of bad debt collection experiences and these were among the worst of the collection. Karen Garrett, the public relations coordinator for Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Advantage Credit Counseling Service felt that she had heard it all until her agency received a call from a senior citizen late last year. She had called in tears and told Garrett that bill collectors had called her and told her that they had the police outside. If she did not pay, they were going to drag her to jail.

Debts are a civil matter, not a criminal one, and jail time is not even a retribution for failing to pay delinquent bills. “It’s extremely important for consumers to know that there is no such thing as debtor’s prison” Garrett says, rolling her eyes and smiling.

If bill collectors are making unlawful threats like physical violence, deportation and jail time, you can always report the harassment to the Federal Trade Commission or to your state attorney general’s office. The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits bad behavior by third party collectors. These people do not follow the same rules as those who are collecting for the creditors directly. They are not allowed to call you at your place of employment if you ask them to stop, publish or threaten to publish your debt, reveal to anyone else that you may have a debt, harass you on the phone or use profanity. The laundry list continues.

They can’t use loss of child custody, deportation, illegal punishment like jail, or physical harm. They cannot call your home before eight AM or after 9 PM or even call at all if you have already written a request asking them to cease contact, or if you’ve hired a lawyer.

One older woman from New Jersey owed $12,000 in credit card debt after putting day to day living expenses on her card. The debt collector called and told her that they were going to take her home. She was also told that they weren’t willing to take a penny less than the $12,000 she owed, and furthermore, they wanted it now. She attempted to gather the money herself but was unable to. “Debt collection agencies are very intelligent when it comes to doing research. They will threaten targeted assets like a home or income source. But in many states, homes are protected from debt collection,

Mallory Megan is employed by a (http://www.rapidrecoverysolution.com) debt collection company. Also she writes stories on business and finance, consumer spending and (http://www.707creditscore.com/rapid-recovery-solutions) collection agencies.