Harassment by a Debt Collector: What Collection Tactics are Illegal?
Harassment by debt collectors means doing something
illegal under by the federal law (FDCPA) or state law
(in California, the RFDCPA) in trying to collect a debt.
If a debt collector has used any illegal tactic against
you in the past year, we can help you. We can stop the debt collector
from contacting you, can force the debt collector to correct any
mistakes in their claim of debt, and can sue the debt collector
to seek money for you, attorney's fees, and costs.
The types of harassment that are illegal under the federal FDCPA or state
RFDCPA are below. If you have any questions or
believe any of these tactics were used against you during the past
year, please call us toll-free at (888) 910-3328 for a no-charge, courteous
telephone consultation. We will be glad to help you.
- 1. Not correcting, explaining, or proving the debt.
A debt collector MUST tell you in writing that you have the right
to ask for correction and / or verification (proof) of the debt.
Once you ask, a debt collector MUST correct, explain, or else prove
the amount you owe. Until
they do, they can't contact you again. It is illegal for a debt collector
to ignore your requests and questions about the amount
and still keep contacting you.
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2. Contacting you after you say to stop
If you tell a debt collector to stop contacting you, the only thing
they can do is send you a final letter saying that contacts
will stop and/or that the debt may or will be
collected by legal or court action, which can have consequences.
That's it.
- 3. Telling friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. about the
debt
A debt collector can contact other people such as friends and neighbors
to ask for your address, phone number, and where you work. The
debt collector can't ask anything else about you, tell them about
the debt, use debt collection words or symbols on a letter or
envelope, or contact them more than once
unless they request or the debt collector reasonably
believes a person can now correct an earlier mistake or incomplete
information about your location. The debt collector can't say
who he works for unless asked, or leave telephone messages.
- 4. Telling family except for spouse or parents
about the debt.
Although a debt collector can tell your spouse or your parents
(only if you are under 21) about the debt, everyone else in your
family can only be contacted as in #3, above.
- 5. Telling employers about the debt except for
garnishing wages, medical insurance
A debt collector can only contact your employer to locate you, confirm
your employment, garnish your wages after a court judgment against
you, or find out if you have medical insurance when collecting
a medical debt. A debt collector can't contact your employer for
any other reason, or otherwise tell them about the debt.
- 6. Inconvenient telephone calls to you
A debt collector can't call you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.,
or at a place they know is inconvenient for you, unless you
agree to it. They can't call you at work if they know your employer
does not allow collection calls to employees. They can't call
you so often that it is harassing (for example, they can't call
you many times every day).
- 7. Envelopes displaying information
about the debt
The debt collector can't send you envelopes with information
about the debt or about you, except for the debt collector's name
and return address and your name and address. The debt collector's
name can't imply debt collection. No postcards are allowed.
- 8. No lies, threats, insults, obscenity, other abuse
The debt collector can't lie to you, threaten you with violence
or embarrassment or threaten to tell other people about you or the
debt, insult you, or use obscenity when talking to you. They can't
falsely claim that you have only hours to pay the debt, or claim
that they will take your belongings to pay the debt, or claim they
work for the government or courts. They can't do anything else that
a reasonable person would consider an abuse (this can include a
lot of things).
- 9. No false or incomplete credit reports
The debt collector can't make a false report about the debt to a
credit bureau, or not tell the credit bureau that you
dispute the amount of the debt.
- 10. Other forbidden conduct
Federal and California debt collector laws have a long list of forbidden
debt collection conduct, and the court system has forbidden even
more. Even if something is not listed above, it may still be forbidden.
We can answer all of your questions in a no-charge consultation.
If you are a California resident and any of these things have happened
to you within the past year, or if you have endured any other kind
of abuse or harassment by debt collectors, please call us for fast,
toll-free advice at (888) 910-3328. It does not matter if you owe
the amount claimed, a lower amount, or no amount. We can help you.
For more information about debts, debt collectors, and harassment, please
see these pages:
To contact us now, please see the information at
the bottom of this page.
________________________________________
If you need help or believe you may have been the victim of harassment
or other illegal debt collection tactics, please call
us, The Law Firm of Shewry
& Van Dyke, LLP, for fast, toll-free advice and
a no-charge consultation at:
(888) 910-3328 (toll-free in California)
E-mail:
We can be reached by telephone
Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. We are glad to provide
you with a telephone consultation at no charge.
But please remember that for us to become your
attorneys, we must first have a written attorney-client
agreement signed by both of us. We look forward to
helping you.
