Protecting Yourself from Debt Collector Harassment

Baltimore, MDEven when people legitimately owe money, there are rules preventing debt collector harassment and other threatening or misleading ways for collectors to recover that money. When collectors violate those laws, consumers can file a debt collector lawsuit, even if the debtor legitimately owes the money sought by the collector. Consumers must know their rights to protect themselves from bill collector harassment and other unethical collection practices.

Consumers are protected from debt collection harassment by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (consumer.ftc.gov). The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act makes it illegal for debt collectors to be abusive, unfair or deceptive in their attempts to collect money from consumers.

Debts that are covered by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act are personal, family and household debts. These would include mortgages, personal credit card accounts and personal loans. Entities that are bound by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act are debt collectors - people or organizations who regularly collect on third-party debts.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits certain activities on the part of the debt collector. For example, it prohibits the debt collector from making calls outside of certain hours and from making harassing phone calls. There are also limitations on when a debt collector can contact someone else about a person’s debt.

The collector can contact an attorney if the attorney represents the person who owes the debt. Beyond that, the collector can only contact other people to find out where the person who owes the debt lives, what his or her phone number is and where he or she works.

Debt collectors are also not allowed to use obscene language, make threats of harm or falsely represent themselves as government representatives. Finally, they cannot threaten to arrest the debtor, or seize or garnish property or wages unless they are legally allowed to.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, a person who has been a victim of illegal debt collector practices can file a lawsuit against the collector in state or federal court, but the lawsuit must be filed within one year of the date the illegal act occurred. If the court finds that the debt collector acted illegally, the collector can be forced to pay damages incurred as a result of the illegal act. Even if a debt collector acted illegally, if the collector was collecting on a legitimate debt, the debtor must still pay what is owed.

Recently, The Better Business Bureau (4/26/13) issued information about a debt collection company accused of threatening and harassing behavior. The agency reportedly received almost 60 complaints in 36 months about the company. Those complaints included threats of jail and lawsuits against debtors, and taking money from accounts without permission.