What constitutes harassment under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)?
Harassment under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) involves a debt collector’s use of abusive, oppressive, or otherwise harmful behavior when attempting to collect a debt. The FDCPA provides direct protection from debt collectors who use threats, profane language, and other harassing tactics when attempting to collect a debt. Under the FDCPA, harassing a debtor includes: 1. Making frequent calls to a debtor, especially during odd hours of the day. 2. Using profane language or other abusive language when communicating with the debtor. 3. Contacting the debtor’s friends, relatives, or coworkers to discuss the debt. 4. Making false or misleading statements about the debtor or the debt. 5. Threatening to take action that the debt collector does not actually intend to take. 6. Threatening to garnish a debtor’s wages, unless the debt collector actually intends to do so and is legally entitled to do so. 7. Attempting to collect an amount greater than what the debtor actually owes. Furthermore, debt collectors are required to notify debtors of their rights under the FDCPA, including their right to demand that the debt collector cease calling and their right to seek legal advice from an attorney. The FDCPA was enacted in 1977 in order to protect debtors from abusive and harassing behavior by debt collectors. If a debt collector is found to be in violation of the FDCPA, the debtor may be eligible for damages including actual damages, court costs, and attorney’s fees.
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