Representing Clients Nationwide
You’re doing your best to keep up with mounting bills, but you simply don’t have enough income to go around right now. As a result, debt collectors are contacting your repeatedly, demanding immediate payment. Their behavior may have become so invasive that it could be considered harassment or abuse. If you are tired of the constant attempts by debt collectors to get you to pay money you don’t have, you can hire a debt collection abuse attorney to sue the agency and put a stop to the harassment. The skilled lawyers at Chávez Law Group work tirelessly to protect people like you from the shady practices of debt collectors.
Debt Collection Practices
Generally, it is acceptable for debt collectors to contact you on the phone, by email, by mail, or by fax. They are also permitted to pay in person visits with certain restrictions with respect to the debtor’s privacy.
It is illegal for a debt collector to harass a debtor. Behavior may be considered harassment if it involves attempts to communicate with you or your family members at unreasonable hours, or if it means following you to various inappropriate locations. A debt collector may also exhibit harassing behavior if he or she contacts you with excessive frequency.
There is also certain protocol that a debt collector must follow. For example, you should receive a written notice after the first contact stating the balance due and to whom it is owed. Contact information should also be included in the event that you have questions about the debt or need to report inaccurate information.
One option you have is to write the agency a letter requesting they stop asking you for money. By law, the debt collection agency must stop contacting you if they receive a written letter asking them to cease communication; however this does not always get them to back off.
Debt collectors may use all kinds of tactics to force you to pay up, often seeking to embarrass or humiliate their targets into agreeing to pay. Debt collection practices may be considered a violation of your rights if the debt collector does any of the following:
- Uses threats and intimidation
- Uses obscene or offensive language
- Attempts physical abuse
- Exhibits harassing behavior through frequent or threatening calls, emails, or letters
- Targets family members
- Does not identify themselves on the phone or uses a false identity
- Uses false statements
- Threatens wage garnishment or arrest without the legal right to do so
How A Lawyer Can Help
No matter how much debt you owe, you don’t have to put up with menacing debt collectors who will try anything. If you have been the victim of offensive, demeaning behavior on the part of a debt collector, our nationwide debt collection abuse attorneys can stand up for your right to fair treatment. We’ll perform a full review of your situation at no charge and let you know what we can do to get the abuse or harassment to end. If you are in serious financial trouble, we can review your options, including filing for bankruptcy and working to fight foreclosure of your home.
Our goal is to empower victims of debt collection abuse to assert their rights, and to send a message to debt collection agencies that bullying is unacceptable. Please contact Chávez Law Group today for personal attention and compassionate legal service.