Here’s a list of illegal things debt collectors do that violate Federal Law (The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act [FDCPA]. You can sue them and they have to pay for your lawyer if you win. Has this happened to you, a family member a co-worker a friend? Call us if it has. If they leave a message like these SAVE THE MESSAGE
Embarrassing calls at work
Calls to neighbors
Threats of jail and even violence.
Taking money without your permission from your bank accounts
Use of or threatening violence or criminal means to harm you;
Using obscene or profane language;
Telephoning you repeatedly or continuously with the intent to annoy or harass;
Calling without telling you who they are including lying about their name.
Lying by telling you that they are government agents, especially ICE or INS;
Lying by telling you that they will seize, garnish or sell any property or wages before they sue you, go to court and get a judgment (They can’t do any of those till they get a judgment)
Lying by telling you that you have committed a crime by not paying the debt
Lying by telling you that you will be arrested or imprisoned;
Threatening to tell false credit information to any other person;
Lying about being employed by or from a credit bureau;
Lying saying or implying that they are lawyers or that they have hired a lawyer to collect the debt;
Use of a false or made up name;
Lying about the amount of the debt;
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is over 30 years old. Its purpose is to protect consumers against harassing, unfair illegal unethical, debt collection tactics. Many of those tactics are used by collectors when calling consumers like you. People just accept them because they don’t know any better. People don’t realize many of these things are illegal. Now you know. Knowing what your rights are under the FDCPA gives you the knowledge that you do have protections.