Actions Against Abusive Debt Collectors
Are you being harassed or threatened by a debt collection agency? Are debt collectors calling you at work or at all hours of the day and night? Do they continue to call even though you've written to the collection agency and requested that they stop calling you?
Abusive debt collection practices have risen dramatically since the economy has collapsed and many people have fallen behind in the payment of their credit cards. These debt collectors are almost always in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The fight over the money has lead many lenders to resort to illegal and unscrupulous practices to collect these debts.
If you are being harassed by credit collectors YOU maybe entitled to money from THEM! Let us help you.
Call us today at 816-474-0202 or contact us online. The attorneys at our firm can explain your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and evaluate your claim for damages at no charge.
At McCollum & Griggs, LLC law office we sue debt collectors that engage in abusive behavior that is illegal under the laws of the States of Missouri, Kansas and the United States of America. The attorneys at our firm are dedicated to standing up for consumers who have been harassed or threatened by collection agencies or subjected to abusive collection practices.
If a debt collector is engaging in any of the following actions, it may be a violation of law:
Oppressive, Harassing, or Abusive Conduct by Debt Collectors
It is illegal for a debt collector to:
- Use or threaten to use violence or other criminal means to harm the physical person, reputation, or property of any person.
- Use any obscene or profane language or language the natural consequence of which is to abuse the hearer or reader.
- Publish a list of debtors who allegedly refuse to pay debts.
- Advertise for sale of any debt to coerce payment of the debt.
- Cause a telephone to ring or engage any person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any person at the called number.
- Engage in telephone calls without meaningful disclosure of the caller's identity.
Communication With the Debtor While Attempting to Collect the Debt
A debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt without the prior consent, under several circumstances. The debtor is in violation of the law if they communicate with the debtor:
- At any unusual time or place or a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to the consumer.
- Before 8 o'clock a.m. or after 9 o'clock p.m.
- Where the debt collector knows the consumer is represented by an attorney
- At the consumer's place of employment, where the debt collector knows or has reason to know that the consumer's employer prohibits the consumer from receiving such communication
- After the debtor notifies debt collector they are refusing to pay and to cease communications with the debtor in writing.
Communication With Persons Other Than the Person Who Owes the Debt
It is illegal if the debt collector communicates with any third party for the purpose of acquiring information about the consumer's location and the debt collector:
- Did not identify himself
- Did not state that he/she is confirming or correcting location information concerning the consumer
- Did not identify his/her employer
- Stated that such consumer owes any debt
- Communicated more than once unless requested to do so by such
- Communicated by post card
- Used any language or symbol on any envelope or in the contents of any communication sent by the mail or telegram that indicates that the debt collector is in the debt collection business
- Communicated relating the collection of a debt after the debt collector knows the consumer is represented by an attorney
- Communicated with any person other than that attorney after knowing the debtor was represented by an attorney
False, Deceptive and Misleading Representations by Debt Collectors
A debt collector may not use any false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means in connection with the collection of any debt.
Debt collectors engage in false, deceptive, or misleading representations if they:
- Falsely represent or imply that the debt collector is vouched for, bonded by, or affiliated with the United States or any state, including the use of any badge, uniform, or similar tactics
- Falsely represent the character, amount, or legal status of any debt.
- Falsely represent any services rendered or compensation which may be lawfully received by any debt collector for the collection of a debt
- Falsely represent or imply that any individual is an attorney or that any communication is from an attorney
- Falsely represent or imply that nonpayment of any debt will result in the arrest or imprisonment of any person or the seizure, garnishment, attachment, or sale of any property or wages of any person unless such action is lawful and the debt collector or creditor intends to take such action
- Falsely represent or threaten to take any action that cannot be legally taken or that is not intended to be taken
- Falsely represent or imply that the consumer committed any crime or other conduct in order to disgrace the consumer
- Falsely communicate or threaten to communicate to any person credit information, which is known or which should be known to be false, including the failure to communicate that a disputed debt is disputed
- Use or distribute any written communication which simulates or is falsely represented to be a document authorized, issued, or approved by any court, official, or agency of the United States or any State, or which creates a false impression as to its source, authorization, or approval
- Use any false representation or deceptive means to collect or attempt to collect any debt or to obtain information concerning a consumer
- Fail to disclose in the initial written communication with the consumer and, in addition, if the initial communication with the consumer is oral, in that initial oral communication, that the debt collector is attempting to collect a debt and that any information obtained will be used for that purpose, and the failure to disclose in subsequent communications that the communication is from a debt collector
- Falsely represent or imply that accounts have been turned over to innocent purchasers for value
- Falsely represent or imply that documents are legal process
- Use any business, company, or organization name other than the true name of the debt collector's business, company, or organization
- Falsely represent or imply that documents are not legal process forms or do not require action by the consumer
- Falsely represent or imply that a debt collector operates or is employed by a consumer reporting agency
Call us today at 816-474-0202 or contact a lawyer for a free evaluation of your claim for abusive collection actions under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
