In most cases, YES.  The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) strictly limits how a debt collector can deal not only with you, but with your family, friends, neighbors and others.

The only persons a debt collector can communicate with about your debt are you, your lawyer, a credit reporting agency, the creditor, or their lawyers.  They can also contact others if they are trying to locate you, but they cannot tell those people that you owe a debt or send them any communications that indicate they are a debt collector.  They generally cannot communicate with anyone else about your debt unless you expressly give them permission, a court allows them to, or they are seeking to collect on a judgment they have obtained against you in court.

Also, they cannot even communicate with you once you tell them to stop – click here for more information on telling them to stop.  Also, once you tell them that you are represented by a lawyer regarding that debt and give them your lawyer’s contact information, they generally cannot communicate directly with you anymore, but can only work through your attorney.  This is one very effective way to stop further communications from a debt collector.

Sometimes it seems that there is no limit to the type of abuse and harassment used by some debt collectors.  The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act provides specific examples of conduct that is prohibited by covered debt collectors.

First, the debt collector cannot use violence or criminal means to harm you physically or your reputation or your property.  Moreover, they cannot even threaten such violence or criminal action.

Second, a debt collector cannot use obscene or profane language to try to collect your debt.  In fact, a debt collector is prohibited from using any language whose natural consequence is to abuse the person hearing or reading the communication.

Third, a debt collector cannot publish a list of consumers who allegedly refuse to pay debts.  Similarly, a debt collector cannot advertise the sale of any debt in order to coerce you to pay the debt.  However, they can still report this information to a credit reporting agency (for example, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) and certain other entities.

Fourth, a debt collector cannot call you repeatedly or continuously with the intent to annoy, abuse or harass you or any other person.  A debt collector also cannot make such calls without disclosing their identity.

The FDCPA provides that consumers may recover their actual damages.  In addition, a consumer may also receive $1000, even if they didn’t suffer any actual damages.  What’s more, experienced Florida FDCPA lawyers will generally take such cases on contingency.  This means that you should not have to pay for attorney fees; instead, any such attorney fees are paid by the debt collector who violated the law.

Remember, to win under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you must be able to prove they violated the FDCPA with evidence admissible in Court.  We recommend that you keep a paper and pen near your telephone if you are getting such phone calls or, worse yet, personal visits.  Write down the date and time for each contact, the debt collectors name and company, who they contacted, and what was said.  Of course, if you receive any letters, bills or other correspondence from the debt collector, save all of them.  If you have caller ID on your phone, write down their phone number and date/time of their call; if you can, take a picture of the caller ID display.  If you have a case against a debt collector, you must then act promptly.  If you don’t file your case before the statute of limitations expires, you will have lost your right to sue the debt collector for their abuse and harassment.

If you believe that a debt collector is abusing or harassing you, we would be happy to assist you, generally at no charge to you, if you are located in Seminole County (Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Geneva, Heathrow, Lake Mary, Longwood, Oviedo, Sanford, Winter Springs, etc.), Orange County (Apopka, Fern Park, Maitland, Orlando, Pine Hills, Winter Park and nearby areas), Volusia County (Daytona Beach, DeBary, Deland, Deltona, Edgewater, New Smyrna, Orange City, Port Orange, South Daytona and others), Lake County (Eustis, Mount Dora, Mount Plymouth, Sorrento and Tavares) and Brevard County (Cocoa, Melbourne, Mims, Palm Bay, Rockledge, Titusville, Viera, etc.).  You can click here to contact us over the internet, or call us on our toll-free number, 1-888-834-5297.

Validation of a debt simply means confirmation or verification of the debt under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).  The FDCPA provides specific legal rights to a consumer who requests a validation notice to verify the debt.  That law requires that the debt collector must generally provide you a written notice within five days after they first communicate with you.

As an experienced consumer lawyer, I know what the FDCPA spells out for the content of the notice that debt collectors must provide to you.  First, they must state the amount of the debt.  Second, they must provide you the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed.  They must also provide you with several statements about your rights:

• You can dispute the validity of all or part of the debt.  Unless you dispute it within 30 days of your receipt of the notice, they will assume the debt is valid.
• If you notify the debt collector in writing within 30 days that you dispute the debt, they will obtain verification of the debt and mail you a copy.
• If you request in writing within 30 days, the debt collector must provide you with the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.

If you notify the debt collector in writing within those 30 days that you dispute all or part of the debt, or that you request the name of the original creditor, the debt collector must cease collecting the debt until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt or the name of the original creditor and mails it to you.  Even if you fail to dispute the validity of the debt, it may not be used against you in court as an admission that you owe the debt.

I will be happy to put my experience to work for you in ensuring that your legal rights are protected.