Contrary to what you may have experienced, debt collection efforts
are strictly regulated by State and federal law. Fair debt collection laws
set forth permissible and impermissible methods for debt collectors
when collecting consumer debt. Although violations of these laws do
not "wipe away" legitimate debts, such violations do require
mandatory monetary compensation to you for the damages suffered
plus an
additional amount up to $1,000 per violation. Your reasonable
attorney fees and court costs must also be paid by the collector if you
prevail.
All consumer debt is covered by debt collection statutes. These kinds
of personal, family, and household debts include money owed for
goods like automobiles and furniture, services like health care, and on
ordinary credit and charge accounts. A “debt collector" is a person who
regularly collects debts owed to third parties; a collector does not
collect his own debts.
Although a debt collector may contact you in person, a debt collector
may not contact you at inconvenient locations such as your place of
employment if the collector knows your employer does not permit such
contact. Likewise, although a collector may contact you at home by
phone, he may not do so at inconvenient times like early in the
morning or late in the evening. Similarly, although a collector may
initially contact you in writing, he may not do so again if you write a
letter to the collector telling them to stop; in fact, once the collector
receives your letter, they may not contact you again except to say
there will be no further contact or to notify you of some specific action
the collector or creditor intends to take. Further, a collector generally
may not contact a third party about your debt or discuss your debt
with anyone other than you or your lawyer.
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