 TITLE: What Should I Do When My Account Goes to Collections? CONTENT: Why Do Debts Go to Collections?\n-------------------------------\nTypically, a debt collector—either a person or a company—reaches out to you when you owe a debt that's gone unpaid for some time, generally after you've missed three or more monthly payments. Two possible scenarios are:\n*   A creditor, such as a credit card issuer or a mortgage lender, thinks you're behind on payments. The creditor might use its own debt collectors to do this, or might hire a debt collection agency or law firm to take it on.\n*   A company bought your debt from the creditor and is trying to collect the money you owe.\nA debt collector can contact you by phone, email, mail or text message when it's trying to collect payment for your overdue bills.\nWhen a debt collector initially contacts you by phone, ask that the details about your debt be put in writing. Hang on to any written correspondence you receive from a debt collector. Within five days of its initial contact with you, a debt collector must tell you in writing the amount of the debt and the name of the creditor, and must inform you about how to dispute the debt. END