Collection agency has been threatening me with jail because I can’t pay

What the collections agency is doing is illegal. The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) sets forth rules for what collections agencies can do to collect debts—and also what they can’t do. One of the practices that they are very specifically barred from is threatening someone with jail over an unpaid debt. Under section 807 of the FDCPA, debt collectors may not make any “representation or implication that nonpayment of any debt will result in the arrest or imprisonment” of the debtor. There’re no exceptions—debtors’ prison went out with Charles Dickens. Collections agencies may not try to scare you into paying by threatening you with prison.

You don’t need to put up with this abuse. You can contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to complain about this behavior—what the debt collector is doing is wrong.