Violations Of The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

In a still-dragging economy, the business of collection agencies has increased dramatically. But thankfully, there are laws that limit what debt collection agencies can do in their aggressive pursuits of debts, real or otherwise; the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is the primary check on collection agencies. The Federal Trade Commission’s website has posted two examples of serious violators of the FDCPA, both of whom have received harsh penalties in ongoing federal lawsuits.The fist company cited, a Texas based collection agency, falsely represented itself as a law firm, and spewed lies via phone and mail to debtors. The collection agency told people that by not paying their bills they had committed a crime, that they would be arrested, go to jail, and lose custody of their children. This unethical business used obscene and profane language over the telephone, called people late at night and early in the morning, added made-up fees to the debts they collected, and never informed people about their rights to dispute debts, have them verified, or obtain the names of the original creditors.Another FDCPA violator, a business out of California, was charged with various abusive collection practices, including harassing and abusing people by threatening physical harm and death to them and their pets, and threatening to desecrate the bodies of deceased relatives over unpaid funeral bills. Needless to say, all of these scare tactics are illegal.If a collection agency has harassed you, you may be entitled to money damages up to $1,000.00, based on the FDCPA, which has been around for almost 35 years. The FDCPA is a federal law that applies to every state. In other words, everyone is protected by the FDCPA. The FDCPA is essentially a laundry list of what debt collectors can and cannot do while collecting a debt, as well as things debt collectors must do while collecting a debt. Plus, the FDCPA has a fee-shift provision. This means, the collection agency pays your attorney’s fees and costs. Founding attorney, Michael Agruss, has settled over 1,500 debt collection harassment cases. We want to help you, too.