Credit debt collection can be a cause for real worry - being in debt is bad enough in the first place, falling behind with your payment is even worse, so the last thing you need is to have collection agencies adding to your stress levels by contacting you all the time.
It isn't something you have to put up with though, and it sometimes only takes simple steps to make a huge difference.
It's always advisable to keep open lines of communication with your creditors.
They make money by lending you money, and would much rather still be in the position of making less money by coming to an agreement with you instead of using collection agencies.
Telling your creditors is the single biggest tip that people need to act on.
As for the collection agents themselves, they are perfectly entitled by law to contact you, but those same laws also have built in protection for you as the debtor.
For example, did you know that if you request a collection agency to stop contacting you, they are legally bound by that! Of course it's vital to remember that this won't stop them pursuing the debt, that is their right, but it does mean you will not get any more calls at work or home.
It's not something the credit industry advertises widely, and you can understand why, but these federal laws were put in place to offer protection to consumers, so why not use them? In the same way that you are using legal technicalities to try and stop the creditors, they will come back at you with the legal comeback if they can.
This means that any communication to get them to stop has to be worded correctly, or it can and will be ignored in law.