Here are a few steps you may take when you feel that you cannot make the repayments as scheduled:

• Contact your lender – and try to come to an arrangement which would suit you. They usually agree to enter into negotiations with you, as long as your proposal is reasonable (hereby meaning you do not propose him to pay back in monthly installments an outrageously small sum). Also, you can prove with the help of documentation that your income/s does not allow you to make the specified payments as scheduled initially.
  
  
• Contact a debt counseling agency- in case you do not feel comfortable to contact your lender personally. Here you will find professionals ready to act on your behalf in negotiations with your lender/s. Moreover, you will receive other financial management advices as well.

If it has already become too late, meaning you are faced with legal action, and you must deal with a debt collector, you have to be informed as to what his rights are. Remember that you are in a very bad position as it is, given your financial status, and that is why you should not permit anyone taking advantage of your situation. There is a given etiquette, a model of behavior which should be respected by the debt collector as well:

• Debt collectors may not use inappropriate language during conversation with the creditor (threatening vs. intimidating)
  
  
• Debt collectors may not contact you by home visits/phone calls at very late hours
  
  
• Debt collectors may not use confusing terms during conversation with the creditor on purpose
  
  
• Debt collectors may not conceal any important information regarding the financial status of the creditor; if the creditor asks any clarifications, the debt collector should put at his disposal all relevant information/documentation
  
  
• Debt collectors may not contact any third party (i.e. other family member) in order to ask for payment

You do not have to forget, however that you still remain a debtor until the whole of the debt is paid off in full. Trying to stay away from debt collecting agencies can be done by managing well your finances in time. There are many measures which can be taken, before you are going to be faced with a debt collecting agency. For example, trying to significantly reduce expenses, especially those which are unnecessary (spending too much on clothing, on eating out, and so on) will definitely help.

Alternatively, you may also opt for a managed bank account which simply implies that a money manager will be assigned to you who will manage your finances: your income will be redirected towards this account, and the manager will firstly put aside the amounts required to go towards your debts, while the remainder will be assigned to you for your personal expenses. This is a very good solution especially if you do not have strong managerial skills, and this way you can stay away from accumulating debts. Whichever method you choose, avoiding the “services” of a debt collecting agency is the most important.

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