If you’ve fallen behind on your credit card, car loan, student loan, or mortgage payments, or have otherwise defaulted on your debt, you may have had your rights violated by debt collectors without even realizing it.
Being in debt or behind on your payments doesn’t mean you can be subjected to harassment and abuse.
At Loan Lawyers, our attorneys fight to protect clients against harassing or abusive debt collectors. Our lawyers have successfully recovered millions of dollars in damages on behalf of our clients for these oppressive and abusive tactics, even when our clients still owe a balance on their debts.
Contact us now for a free discussion about your situation and advice about your best options under the law.
Know Your Rights: Debt Collection Harassment
Federal and state laws prohibit debt collectors from engaging in abusive, harassing, or deceptive tactics when attempting to collect debts from consumers.
Specifically, consumers are protected by the federal Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (FDCPA) and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA). These laws are intended to ensure that individuals with debts are treated fairly and with dignity. The laws were passed in response to the debt collection industry’s long history of fraudulent and abusive tactics in trying to collect debts from frightened and unsuspecting individuals.
What Is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act?
The FDCPA is a federal consumer protection statute providing legal protection from abusive debt collection practices. The FDCPA provides guidelines debt collectors must adhere to when conducting their business, prohibiting them from engaging in abusive, deceptive, misleading, or unfair tactics.
The FDCPA defines the rights of consumers in dealing with debt collectors and sets forth penalties and remedies for debt collectors’ violations of the statute.
A consumer who is the victim of FDCPA violations may be entitled to receive actual or statutory damages of up to $1,000, in addition to attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in prosecuting the claim.
What Is the Florida Consumer Collections Practices Act?
The FCCPA is a state law that prohibits debt collectors or creditors from engaging in certain abusive and deceptive or misleading debt collection tactics. The FCCPA’s protections are intended to supplement the protections provided by the FDCPA.
Unlike the FDCPA, which applies only to debt collectors – with original creditors excluded from the definition of a debt collector, even when a creditor is trying to collect a debt it is owed – the FCCPA applies to both debt collectors and original creditors.
A consumer who successfully brings a suit against a debt collector or creditor for violation of the FCCPA may be entitled to seek either his or her actual damages, or statutory damages of up to $1,000, in addition to punitive damages in the court’s discretion, along with attorneys’ fees and court costs.
