• Debt collectors in North Carolina must follow certain state laws.dollars image by Andreescu Dragos from Fotolia.com
  
  If you are a resident of North Carolina and you owe money to creditors, you have various protections under state law. Like most states, North Carolina regulates the way debt collectors can operate. It's important for consumers to understand these regulations. It's the only way they'll know when they're being treated illegally.
  
  

Threats And Coercion

• According to the North Carolina Fair Debt Collection Law, collectors in the state are not allowed to use threats or coercion to convince consumers to pay back their creditors.
  
  The act forbids collection agencies from using or threatening to use violence, suggesting that debtors will be thrown in prison for not paying their bills or threatening to garnish their wages. North Carolina state law states that debtors can't be imprisoned or have their salaries garnished because they owe money.
  
  

Harassment

• The state act also forbids collection agencies from calling consumers so often that it becomes unreasonable, though the act does not state specifically what defines an unreasonable number of calls. The act also forbids collection agency representatives from placing collect telephone calls to debtors or using profane or obscene language. Collection agencies are also not allowed to call a debtor at her job unless that is the only phone number that the agency's representatives have.
  
  

Deceptive Representation

• Collection agency officials are not allowed to misrepresent themselves as being representatives of government agencies or credit bureaus. They are also required to send consumers written notice of the debt these consumers owe and to whom they owe it. They must send this notice before they make any phone calls to consumers.
  
  

No Outside Communication

• Collection agencies in North Carolina must not call or contact consumers' bosses, fellow workers, neighbors or family members to speak with them about the consumers' debts. There are certain exceptions to this rule, though: Collection agencies can call others for the purpose of locating the debtor, as long as they don't mention the person's debt. They can also call the parent or guardian of the consumer if the consumer is a minor.