Every day more consumers fall behind on their credit card debt payments and leave themselves open to being threatened by credit card debt collectors. Some people simply cannot afford to pay their growing minimum-monthly credit-card debt payment(s), as a result they begin to feel hopeless and guilty.

Some who go through this, however, realize that they do not need to feel guilty and submit to debt collectors.

They understand they can use a proven legal strategy to make the debt collector prove the debt is owed. Denying and disputing an unsecured credit debt with a debt collector, not the original creditor, works, according to Credit Card Debt Survival Guide. This strategy forces the other side to prove their case.

A credit card debt collector is required by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to send a statement to the consumer with the debt saying that:

1. The debt collector can assume that the debt is valid if the consumer does not dispute the debt’s validity.

2] The consumer must notify the debt collector in writing within thirty days that the debt is disputed.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act also allows consumers to write to the credit card debt collector stating that they refuse to pay the debt, or that they would like the debt collector to stop all communication regarding the debt.

By taking the action of disputing and denying a credit card debt and then requesting that the collector stop all communications, you have made the debt collection effort harder. The collector must return to the credit card company to obtain documents which they then have to forward to alleged debtor. They have to validate the debt with copies of original documents according to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

With an unsecured, unsigned credit card debt, a debt collector has to get the consumer to admit to owing the debt. Effectively they need an admission of “guilt”. The initial exchanges between consumer and the credit card debt collector set the tone of all communications between them. If a consumer denies and disputes the alleged debt, and also forbids further communications, often the collector will look for an easier target.

Matt Highlander researched and wrote the Credit Card Debt Survival Guide. Learn about debt settlement and legal nonpayment strategies for eliminating credit card debt.