Debt Collector Harassment

FDCPA Violation Help For Debt Collector Harassment

Are you being harassed with illegal debt collection tactics and unfair practices by creditors and debt collectors? If so, you may be entitled to sue the debt collector for illegal conduct.

Federal and State Fair Debt Laws provide consumers with strong protections from debt collection harassment. Debt collectors often break these rules because they know that in most cases they can get away with it. Most consumers either do not know about their rights or lack the resources to fight back.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) (15 U.S.C. §1692 et seq.) prohibits collectors from engaging in a wide range of abusive and harassing conduct. There a many things that a debt collector often does or fails to do that violate the FDCPA.

Here are just a few FDCPA violation examples:

Contact a debtor who is represented by an Attorney.
Fail to warn the debtor that the communication is from a debt collector and that any information obtained will be used to collect a debt.
Fail to warn on all subsequent communications that they are from a debt collector.
Call the debtor an unreasonable number of times in a period of time or after they have been instructed to stop calling.
Use profane, foul, or obscene language.
Make racial, religious, or sexual slurs.
Yell or scream at the debtor.
Engage in name calling.
Falsely threaten a lawsuit.
Falsely threaten to ruin a debtor’s credit.
Threaten criminal charges, prosecution, or jail.
Pretend he or she is calling from a government agency, police department, or court.
Pretend he or she is an attorney or calling from a law firm.
Falsely threaten wage garnishment.
Contact the debtor’s employer and discuss the debt with a supervisor or co-worker.
Leave any message with any employee of the debtor’s employer.
Leave artificial or pre-recorded messages on the cell phone of the debtor or another person.
Attempt to collect a debt from a debtor’s spouse or relative.
Contact a debtor’s, spouse, relative, or neighbor to discuss or disclose the debt.
Threaten violence.
File frivolous or improper lawsuits against the debtor.
Misrepresent the amount of debt owed.
Attempt to collect a debt that has been paid, settled, or discharged in bankruptcy.
Call before 8:00 a.m. (local time) or after 9:00 p.m. (local time).
Make false promises to the debtor in order to trick them into paying money.
Lie about the identity of his or her company.
Leave telephone messages discussing the debt where somebody other than the debtor may hear the message.
Fail to properly advise the debtor of their right to demand validation and verification of the debt.
Do anything that is unfair or deceptive.

If any of the above have happened to you or if you were in any way harassed or treated unfairly by a debt collector, and are able to prove in court that a debt collector violated the FDCPA, you are entitled to up to $1,000.00 in statutory damages, payment for any actual damages including emotional distress, and payment of your attorney’s fees and costs. A group of people also may sue a debt collector and recover money for damages up to $500,000, or one percent of the collector's net worth, whichever is less.

You Have The Right To Sue

I want to sue, you should gather and organize all the information you can about the debt, as well as the collection efforts of any past or current collectors who contacted you. The past correspondence provides important information about the kinds of charges and interest that have been added to the debt. If you have copies of your credit reports, you will need those also. The credit reports also contain historic information about the debt, including the time it was incurred, when it was defaulted, and who may have collected it previously.

If you have any notes about the debt or any taped conversations, threatening letters, or any communication whatsoever with the collector, these can be extremely valuable in reconstructing the collection efforts and any abuse. Whenever you're contacted by a collector, you should log the call and note the date, time, person who called and content of the call including any abusive language or threats. You should keep these notes together.

If you have any witnesses who can corroborate that you were abused, you should get a brief statement from that witness in their own words. These statements will help to refresh the witnesses' memories when you get to trial and provide information to your attorney.

If you believe you were harassed or treated unfairly by a debt collector, you should fill out this form so we can assist you.

Debt Collectors Settle FTC Charges:

We encourage you to document all debt collection activity and especially activity you feel is in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Call Log Sheet PDF

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