The collection company keeps calling you at the office and bothering you at home, sometimes calling as late as 11 p.m. What are your rights?

While you have an obligation to pay your bills on time, there are laws to protect your rights if you should find yourself being pursued by a debt collection agency.

For example, the collection agency cannot call you at home before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. They may not call you at work if they know your employer bans such calls and obscene, profane or abusive phone calls are prohibited.

While there are a number of protections for consumers in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, there is still one important point. You are responsible for your debts. Nothing in this law gives you the right to skip out on your bills. It just protects you from unscrupulous collection agencies. The lender can take legal action to collect the money