"Hello Amy?" Uh oh --- You know the collection harassment is about to begin when debt collectors start calling you by your first name. Darn credit companies.

Maybe it's some sort of psychological ploy to get you feeling comfortable before they threaten to attach your wages. Or maybe it's a sign of disrespect - not using your last name even though it's a 'business call'. Or maybe it's just what gets 'em past the phone-answering gatekeeper.

Who knows ... one thing's for sure though, creditors are only nice until they get you on the phone - then it's all out warfare. A hundred questions about your personal life, and your partner's too, if they think they can get away with it.

They like to sound ominous about what may happen if you don't make arrangements with them and many of them have a way of sounding threatening without being specific.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Debt collectors can't actually be specific in their threats because there's a limit to the degree and ways they can legally pursue the debt that you owe. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which was first passed in 1977 to protect consumers from abusive debt collectors, lays out clear guidelines that they must follow while they're attempting to collect a debt.

You may want to get familiar with the original text of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. There are a whole lot of things that debt collectors routinely do that could be considered for a class action lawsuit, but because of the nature of the initial contact, many people are reluctant to "air their dirty laundry" just to make the collection agencies respect their rights.

From a brochure intended for consumers put out by the Federal Trade Commission, here's just a peek at some of the stuff that debt collectors are legally prohibited from doing:

• They're not allowed to harass you or anyone that you know

• They can't imply that they're lawyers or that they represent the government in any way

• They can't falsely suggest that you have committed a crime or tell you that you will be arrested if you don't pay up

• They can't say that they're from the credit bureau

• They can't tell you owe a different amount than you actually do

• They can't threaten that they will attach your wages, put liens on your property or come take your stuff unless they intend to do it and it is within their legal right.

• They can't suggest that actions (like lawsuits) are pending or imminent unless they are or are intending to move forward in that way

• They're not allowed to send you anything that appears to be an official document from a court or government office if it isn't

And the list goes on ...

Basically, credit collection agencies aren't supposed to be out there doing a lot of the things that they are doing. Everyone knows it. And because the citizens who are being unfairly treated tend to have more to worry about than some creditor who's calling and looking for money that they haven't got, the debt collectors get away with their illegal behavior.

The only way to really stop them, and put them on point, is to hit them where it hurts - their bottom line - their wallets.

Chances are that if they're treating you this way, they're also treating the other 200 calls they make in a given day the same way. And while an individual lawsuit is unlikely - we already know the 'injured party' is dead broke - the only real remedy then is a class action lawsuit.

Don't let them get away with treating you like dirt just because you've gotten a little behind. Explore your class action lawsuit options and put them back in their place where they belong.