Debt collectors can file lawsuits against debtors

According to finance experts, debt collectors have a variety of resources available to them when trying to get the money that they are owed. Writing for Fox Business, Todd Ossenfort says that companies can send wage garnishment orders to a person's employer only after the creditor has been given a judgment from a court. He writes that the debtor will be mailed something by either by the credit card company or the debt collection agency telling them that a lawsuit has been filed with the court and that they needed to respond it. If a debtor does not respond, then a judgment will be made against them. "If the garnishment order sent to your employer is from the same creditor as the order sent to your bank, it could be that they were both granted from the court to collect the debt owed," Ossenfort wrote. "In order to remove additional money from your checking account, the creditor would need to get another order from the court." In other debt collection news, the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals came out with a report entitled Past Due: Why Collection Practices and the Debt Buying Industry Need Reform Now. The report found that there had been threats, harassment and other types of activity done while trying to collect money owed.