PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh's better business bureau has seen a whopping 50-percent hike in complaints about debt collectors. While experts say don't ignore your debt, you don't have to put up with threatening calls.

People in pittsburgh are losing sleep over the threats from debt collectors. Crystal Rathbun from Spring Garden owes about 15 hundred dollars in credit card bills. "Sometimes they call like four times in a row...you can't even hang up on them because they call right back," said Rathbun.

Hope Kimble, another single mom, has several hundred dollars in debt. "They call me at three o'clock in the morning," said Kimble.

But that 3am call is against the law. "They can not call you at inconvenient hours. The act sets those hours as prior to 8am and after 9pm. Debt collectors are also not allowed to call you at work," said Kristen Garret from Advantage Credit Counseling.

And according to the Fair Debt Collection Act, you have other rights. Collectors can't harass you, threaten you with violence, use obscene language or use the phone repeatedly to annoy you. They also can't falsely threaten you with legal action.

Aside from a lawsuit there are steps you can take on your own. If you truly owe the debt and want the calls to stop, send a letter to the collector requesting they stop all communications. The debt doesn't go away, but the collector will. The company can contact you one more time to let you know what their future action will be.

If you don't think you really owe the debt, send a letter to the collector and dispute their claim. Do this within 30 days and the collector has to stop contacting you or they have to send proof of the debt.