Can a debt collector contact me at work?

If your employer does not allow that type of contact at work, then the debt collectors must respect that and not contact you at work.

A debt collector keeps calling me at 1am to annoy me – is this legal?

No.  This is definitely not legal, for two different reasons. 

First, the debt collection agencies are not allowed to contact you after 9pm or before 8am unless you specifically state that it is okay to contact you at that time.  Also, they are not allowed to use repeated phone calls for the specific purposes of annoying you.  If this is happening to you, contact the Federal Trade Commission to report the illegal behavior.

I don’t owe the money, but the debt collector continues to contact me anyways.  What are my rights?

If you send the collection agency a letter stating that you do not owe the money within the first 30 days, then the collection agency must stop bothering you until they have sent you proof of the money owed.

I sent a collection agency a post-dated check, but they deposited it before that date.  Is this illegal?

Yes, it is illegal for a collection agency to prematurely deposit a post-dated check. 

How to Stop the Debt Collector from Calling You

If you no longer want the debt collection agency to contact you, you may stop the calls simply by writing a letter.  

If you write them a letter and state that you no longer wish to receive communication from the debt collection agency, then they must comply with that request.