Ft Lauderdale Debt Collection Harassment Attorney

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. All debtors have the right to fair debt collection practices.

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.

Know Your Rights: Debt Collection Harassment

Federal and state laws prohibit debt collectors from using abusive, harassing, or deceptive tactics 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 with fair debt collection practices that respect their dignity. The laws were passed in response to the debt collection industry’s long history of fraudulent and abusive tactics in collecting debts from frightened and unsuspecting individuals.

What Is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act?

The FDCPA is a federal consumer protection statute that provides legal protection against abusive debt collection practices. The FDCPA provides fair debt collection practices 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 Debt Collection Practices Act is a state law that prohibits debt collectors or creditors from engaging in certain abusive 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 Debt Collection Practices Act 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.

What To Expect From a Debt Collection Harassment Lawsuit

You have the right to file a lawsuit against creditors who keep harassing you. If you decide to sue one of your creditors for harassment, what does that process entail?

The process begins when you contact an attorney to file a FDCPA lawsuit. Your attorney can help you determine if your case is better suited for state or federal court. The attorney will collect all of your evidence of the harassment, along with a calculation of your damages. This includes totaling what you lost or had to spend due to illegal harassment methods, such as:

Lost wages, either from wage garnishment or improperly collected fees
Any medical bills
Nontangible damages such as emotional distress

You can also receive compensation to cover $1000 in statutory damages as well as attorney fees.

Your attorney will handle the proceedings from there. Usually, these cases end with a settlement. There is a small chance the case could proceed to a trial, which your lawyer will help prepare you for.

While you can file this lawsuit without an attorney’s help, an attorney can be a reliable guide through the process. They can handle all the paperwork and deal with your creditors on your behalf.

Prohibited Loan Harassment Activities

Too often debt collection companies have tried to prey on individuals in difficult financial circumstances or attempted to collect debt already paid, discharged in bankruptcy, or not actually owed by the person being contacted.

Debt collection companies will sometimes cross the line, violating the legal Florida consumer collection practices by using intimidation and scare tactics to collect money. As a result, the FDCPA and the FCCPA prohibit numerous abusive and harassing tactics by debt collection agencies, such as:

Contacting friends, neighbors, or relatives about your debt
Threatening to garnish your wages
Threatening to impound, take away, or put liens against your property
Calling multiple times in a short duration
Calling you at work
Threatening to have you arrested
Threatening to file a lawsuit against you
Attempting to collect on a debt that is not owed
Attempting to collect on a debt that is no longer recoverable due to the statute of limitations having run out
Calling you early in the morning (before 8 am) or late at night (after 9 pm)
Attempting to collect a debt that has been discharged in bankruptcy
Contacting you after having been instructed to stop doing so
Mischaracterizing or wrongfully stating the amount of debt that is due
Contacting you while you are represented by an attorney
Lying or using deceptive means to try to collect on a debt
Using improper or abusive language
Failing to send a proper debt notice within five days of their first contact

If you have experienced any of these illegal Florida consumer collection practices or have been subjected to any behavior from debt collections that has made you feel harassed or abused, contact our creditor harassment attorneys today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about debt collection harassment that we receive. It’s important for all debtors to understand their rights.

Can debt collectors contact me whenever and wherever they want?

No. There are limits to when and where debt collectors can attempt to reach you. Some of these limitations include:

Unless you grant them permission, they cannot contact you after 9 p.m. or before 8 a.m.
If you tell them you cannot be contacted at work, they cannot contact you at work
They cannot contact you via email, text, or private social media message if you ask them to stop
They cannot exceed seven phone calls within seven days
They cannot contact you within seven days after talking with you over the phone about a specific debt

Can a debt collector contact my friends and family?

Technically yes, but they are only allowed to ask your friends and family about your current location. They are not allowed to harass them, explain the details of your debt, or contact them more than once.

What methods are off-limits to debt collectors?

Aside from the methods listed above regarding frequency and time of day limitations, several methods are off-limits to debt collectors. This includes:

Lying about the amount you owe
Pretending to be a lawyer or government official
Cashing in a post-dated check early
Threaten you with obscene language or violent threats
Revealing your debts publicly
Attempting to collect additional fees on top of what you owe

How can I stop collectors harassing me?

One way to get them to stop is to contact an attorney. Once you have an attorney representing you, debt collectors must then communicate with the attorney instead of the debtor. Meanwhile, your attorney can help you find solutions to resolve your outstanding debts.

How can I prove that collectors are harassing me?

Go through your phone’s call history and keep records of every time they called you. Screenshots can be helpful, along with recordings of voicemails and notes about what you discussed if you happened to speak with them on the phone.