You haven’t paid your debt in a while. The collection agency has called you several times to demand the money that you owe. This has probably gotten very stressful, and to make matters worse, the collection agency you are dealing with calls several times a week with only mean and harsh things to say.

Perhaps you have even written a letter to the collection agency telling them to stop contacting you. Though this will not make your debt go away, it is required of them to stop calling you under the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act, or the FDCPA. However, they still have not stopped calling you and harassing you about paying your bills.

Finally, you get fed up with it. After learning more about the FDCPA, you discover that what the collection agency that has been contacting you is doing a number of things that are illegal. So, you decide to be prepared next time the call, and you write down generally everything that was said, what time they called, and who you spoke with. Now what?

You believe that you have enough information to make a formal complaint in court. Still, what exactly do you do to go about suing a collection agency? What steps should you take that would better ensure that your case gets the attention that it needs, and that you actually get somewhere with it, rather than just biding your time and temporarily averting attention from your debt?

Here are a few things you should do when filing a complaint against a collection agency:

1. Save the Proof

One of the things that will help you the most when filing a formal complaint is proof. You should have evidence of the harassment you are getting from the collection agencies, like the time and date of which you spoke on the phone with someone from a collection agency, who that person was, and maybe even a recording of the phone call if you may have it. You will also want a copy of any threatening letters that may have been sent to you by the collection agency.

2. File Abuse

Once you have the proof, now is time to take legal action against the collection agency. You do this by writing a formal complaint letter to your state attorney general’s office letting them know specifically what the problem is. Do not beat around the bush. Let them know exactly how the collection agency has violated your rights and where those specific rights and rules are cited in the FDCPA. If you do not state the specific violation and give them the proof of it, your case will not be taken seriously and cannot be considered legitimate.

3. The Better Business Bureau

Also, you probably want to report the actions of the collection agency to the Better Business Bureau. They may also be of some help to you in this matter. Though you may file a complaint to both your attorney general’s office and the BBB, your best option, of choosing between the two, would be the attorney general’s office.