25 Most Common Violations of your rights by Debt Collectors
We have successfully sued a fair number of debt collectors, debt collection agencies and debt buyers for violating our clients’ rights under the FDCPA. While the the list of debt collectors that we have sued continues to grow quickly, we have found that the majority of the collector violations are as follows:
Abusive contacts made by bill collectors
Repeatedly calling your telephone.
Cursing, swearing or otherwise profaning at you during phone calls.
Contacting and disclosing your debt to other people.
Contacting you without disclosing their identity or the purpose of their call.
Threatening to pursue criminal charges against you for failing to pay a bill.
Threatening to take action they do not intend to take, such as:
Garnishing your wages or taking your property when there is no judgment against you.
Threatening to call your employer and disclose the debt.
Threatening to turn your case over to an attorney when it is highly unlikely that any attorney would sue for a balance as small as you might owe.
Contacting you after they know you are represented by an attorney.
Calling you at any unusual time (before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.) or place.
Calling you at work if they know that your employer prohibits it, or if it’s inconvenient for you.
Debt collectors may not make false, deceptive or misleading statements in connection with the collection of a debt, such as:
Falsely representing to you that criminal action will be taken against you in connection with the debt.
Leading you to believe he/she is an attorney or that a phone call or letter is from an attorney.
Falsely implying affiliation with the United States or any state, including the use of any badge and/or uniform.
Sending a collection letter or leaving a voice mail that fails to contain a statement that "This is a communication from a debt collector." This statement must be contained in every letter and phone call made by the debt collector.
Communicating false credit information, including failure to communicate to credit bureaus that a debt is disputed.
Debt collectors may not use unfair practices, such as:
Attempting to collect an amount not authorized by contract or permitted by law (for example, a collection agency may not add “collection fees” to a debt if you never agreed to such a charge).
Depositing or threatening to deposit your post- dated check prior to its date.
Accepting or soliciting your check postdated by more than 5 days without 3 business days written notice of intent to deposit.
Causing any charges to be made to you, e.g., collect telephone calls, usage of cell phone minutes.
Communicating with you by postcard.
Displaying any language or symbol on the envelope indicating the communication concerns debt collection.
These are just prime examples of how bill collectors violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Michigan Collection Practices Act. If a debt collector is bothering you, call or email Attorney Gary Nitzkin for a free consultation at (888) 293-2882.
