Creditor Harassment
The good news is that creditor harassment is illegal. While creditors have the right to collect debt, it is your right to be free from unlawful threats, intimidation, or abusive communications from creditors. If you face harassment, David R. Black's Bankruptcy Legal Group can help.
What is creditor harassment?
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) protects you against abrasive debt collection actions and clarifies in detail what harassment is. A long list of actions that are classified as harassment includes:
- Threats of violence or physical harm or to your reputation or property
- Use of obscene or profane language or abusive language
- Publication of a list of consumers who allegedly refuse to pay debts (except to a consumer reporting agency)
- Advertisement for sale of any debt to coerce debt payment
- Causing the telephone to ring or engaging a person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with the intent to annoy, abuse, or harass the person
- Making calls without meaningful disclosure of the caller's identity
- False representation of the amount or status of any debt
- Representation or implication that nonpayment of debt will result in arrest, imprisonment, or seizure, garnishment, attachment or sale of property or wages unless the action is lawful or intended
Under this act, you do not have to receive creditor phone calls at your place of work or calls that fall outside the range of 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM local time.
Creditor harassment has the purpose of intimidating you and forcing you to pay. Some collection efforts are scams for non-existent debts. People can become so distressed that they pay just to make the harassment stop.
Find out more about your legal rights. If you do have a valid debt that you are hard-pressed to pay off, your bankruptcy lawyer can offer legal solutions that help you deal with collection efforts and repayment of your debt.
When bankruptcy is the right solution for debt problems, it triggers an automatic stay, which is a court order that stops all credit collection efforts. This means no more harassing phone calls, written communications, or threats of lawsuits.
Contact David R. Black's Bankruptcy Legal Group today
Call our bankruptcy law firm today at (866) 491-6275 for a free consultation or contact us via our web form.We represent individuals throughout the Delaware and Chester County area.
