The Bay View Law Group debt settlement program not only helps you via debt negotiation, but also helps reduce stress by handling creditor communication on your behalf.

This information regarding creditor communication comes from inside the welcome packet that we send to all of our clients:

• DO NOT COMMUNICATE WITH CREDITORS. That is what you have hired us to do. If a creditor calls, tell them to call us instead. If you have been getting numerous calls from creditors, you may want to screen your calls before answering the phone. If you happen to answer the phone, tell them to call us. If you just get a message from the creditor, give us the creditor’s name and number, so that we can contact them.
• KEEP A LOG OF CREDITOR CALLS. That information may be helpful in settling your accounts down the line.
• FORWARD ANY WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONN FROM CREDITORS.
• CREDITOR INTERVENTION. The second major service we provide is causing your creditors to communicate with our office rather than with you directly. For many of our clients who receive frequent and annoying creditor collection calls, this service alone is worth the fee.
  1. FIRST LETTER TO CREDITORS. After you have started on this program we send a letter to creditors informing them that you have enrolled in our program and that further communications should be directed to our office.
  2. THE FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT (“FDCPA”) REQUIRES BILL COLLECTORS TO CEASE COMMUNICATION WITH YOU. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), once a bill collector knows that you are represented by an attorney in regard to an account the bill collector must direct his communication to the attorney rather than to you.
  3. ORIGINAL CREDITORS. The FDCPA only applies to “debt collectors” (collection agencies, for example) or those who purchase debts that have gone into default, so theoretically, the original creditor (the lending bank, for example) could continue to contact you even after being notified that we represent you. As a practical matter, however, it has been our experience that all but a tiny number of creditors will quit contacting you once they know we are representing you.
  4. WHEN DO THE PHONE CALLS STOP? The reality is that we cannot guarantee that creditor calls will ever stop completely – nor can anyone else. Based on past experience, however, we are able to substantially reduce your creditor calls within a few weeks. The creditors will receive our representation letter shortly after you begin our program, but it often takes awhile for whoever receives the letter to transmit the information to whoever is calling you. If you do get a call, let us know about it and we will call the creditor to confirm we are representing you. Once a particular creditor knows you are represented, that creditor normally quits calling. Sometimes the account gets transferred to a different collection agency, and the new collector may not know you are being represented, and may call you until they find out you are represented.
  5. WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE CONTACTED BY A CREDITOR.
     • IF YOU HAVE PHONE MESSAGES ON YOUR VOICE MAIL. Simply give us the name and number of who called, and we will contact them.
     • IF YOU SPEAK DIRECTLY WITH THE CREDITOR. Tell the creditor politely that you are now being represented by a law office, and give the creditor our phone number. If the creditor asks anything further, politely but firmly repeat “I am now being represented by Bay View Law Group in regard to this account. Their phone number is 888-288-4191.” The creditor may try to ask if you are filing bankruptcy. (If you are on our debt settlement program, you obviously are not planning to file bankruptcy, but that is none of the creditor’s business. Once the creditor knows you are being represented by an attorney, the creditor should quit communicating with you.)
     • CREDITOR COMMUNICATION LOG. We ask that you keep a log of phone calls you receive from creditors and send that to us periodically.
  6. CREDITOR HARASSMENT. A very tiny number of bill collectors will continue to harass you. If that happens, let us know. That may be grounds for a lawsuit against the creditor, and may help in settling your account down the road.
     • CONTINUING COMMUNICATION WITH CREDITORS. The third service we provide is Continuing Creditor Communication. As well as causing creditors to cease communicating directly with you, we also maintain friendly communication with your creditors so long as you are on this program. Our staff is trained to treat creditors with respect and courtesy, just as anyone would want to be treated. Although we are firm with the creditors in letting them know that they can’t contact you directly, we let them know that you are still setting aside funds to settle your debts and that you still plan to pay them what you can. Our experience has been that you are much less likely to be sued if you have an attorney continuing to let the creditors know what is happening.