The last thing you need when faced with financial hardship, or even just a forgotten bill, is the stress and worry that comes from abusive debt collection practices. Fortunately, the FDCPA sets out certain requirements with which debt collectors must comply.
If you have been contacted by a debt collector who committed any of the acts below, you may have legal options, including bringing a lawsuit for actual damages plus up to $1,000 and attorneys’ fees. Contact us for a free consultation.
- Failing to send you a written notice explaining the amount of debt, to whom the debt is owed, that you have thirty days to dispute the debt, and that you have the right to dispute the debt
- Refusing to identify himself or herself
- Communicating with you at your place of employment
- Communicating with you before 8 AM or after 9 PM
- Communicating with a third-party in connection with your debt without your consent
- Informing a third-party (such a friend or coworker of yours) that you owe a debt
- Continuing to contact you after you have asked them to stop
- Threatening violence or using obscenity
- Repeatedly calling you with the intent to annoy
- Falsely representing the amount of a debt
- Using any symbol on an envelope that identifies the debt collector as a debt collector
- Representing or implying that you have committed a crime
- Threatening arrest
- Threatening to garnish wages or dispossess you of any other property (without a court order)
- Threatening to sue on a time-barred debt (six years after last payment made)
- Falsely representing that the collector is an attorney or that the communication is from an attorney
These are just a few of the many possible violations. We strongly suggest you read through this link for more. Or, if you’ve been contacted by a debt collector, and their behavior just does not seem right, send us an email with what’s going on, and we will get back to you.
