Introduction: American Greed: Some People Will Do Anything For Money

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1 Introduction: American Greed: Some People Will Do Anything For Money Millions in the U.S. are facing impossible levels of personal debt, rising past due credit card bills, utility shutoffs, foreclosures and homelessness. But at least one type of business has turned the growth of poverty into a gold mine. Standing behind the big banks in the food chain are several layers of a complex and parasitic collections industry. In the middle of this food chain are the professional debt buyers. At the bottom are the collection agencies, the scavengers who relentlessly pursue individual consumers just like you and me. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), collection agency profits have grown between four and six times over the past several years. Marketdata estimates that U.S. collection agency revenues grew 3.9% annual growth is forecast. Some analysts claim the industry is worth as much as $17 billion. Most of this growth can be credited to the bonus plans these companies used the pay their collection employees based on the amount of defaulted debt they recover. Much of this business borders on illegality, employing a policy of deliberate harassment and abuse for the sole purpose of turning as high a profit as humanly possible. As profits continue to soar, all indications are that tactics have become increasingly aggressive, and sometimes criminal.

2 One story behind these statistics was told in 2008 on Credit and Collection World s Web site. This industry source states, Emilio Saladiages, 62, of Newark, New Jersey, asked to speak to a manager at Rent-A-Center about the incessant collection of letters and calls he had been receiving regarding missed payments on furniture rentals. When no one would speak with him, he doused himself with lighter fluid and lit the fluid with a cigarette lighter, self-immolating in front of customers and employees of the store, the Web site reported. While this is a particularly horrendous example, the size and scope as well as the brutality of the collection business has dramatically expanded. This industry (known by the acronym ARM, for accounts receivable management) has grown national from 47,000 agencies to over 430,000 in the last 10 years, and is expected to swell an additional 23 percent by The Labor Department s Bureau of Labor Statistics puts this industry s growth rate at the number one position. As with anything in life, when an opportunity arises for people to make a boatload of money in a hurry, so does the potential for abuse and illegal activity to go along with it. It is human nature to keep wanting more and to do whatever it takes to get more than you currently have. And that is exactly how collection tactics continue to evolve. And the average consumer like you and me are the ones who pay through constant attacks of illegal conduct in attempts to collect a debt until we just can t take it anymore and simply pay the bill sometimes even if we don t owe it. So how is a little guy you going to take on a $17 billion dollar debt collection industry and force debt collectors to start acting with dignity, fairness, truthfulness and respect? With the help of little known federal and state laws, your job just got a whole lot easier. What Law Protects Me from Harassing Creditors: Tell me how I can make the harassment stop! When you are drowning in debt and the harassing phone calls from debt collectors come at all hours of the day and night, you may have resigned yourself to the idea that you deserve this. If something happened to your or your family that has made it hard to make ends meet, you are not alone. If you think debt collectors have the right to bother you until you give them the money owed, you re wrong. Want to know a secret?

3 Debt collectors aren t allowed to treat you this way. It s not just a matter of common courtesy and respect-it s the law. Enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Telephone Collection Practices Act (TCPA) and the Florida Consumer Collections Practices (FCCPA) were created to protect people just like you who are being subjected to abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by debt collectors. If a bill collector who has been bothering you violates the terms of the FDCPA, TCPA or FCCPA, you can sue them for violating your rights under federal and state law. I sue debt collectors all the time and when I win for you, the debt collector has to pay ALL my attorney fees, PLUS you could be awarded up to $1,000 or more! What is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)? This federal law put limitations in place that restricts the way debt collectors can and cannot act when attempting to collect defaulted debt from consumers but only with respect to debt collectors not original creditors (like Chase, SunTrust or Rent- A-Center). What is the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA)? It s a state law unique to Florida to protect consumers from overreaching by debt collectors. It s very similar to the federal law with one huge addition, you can sue debt collectors (like Asset Acceptance, Calvary Portfolio, and Alliance) and original creditors like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Sears, etc etc. What Does the FDCPA and FCCPA Protect Me From?

4 These laws protect you from harassing, abusive, or threatening behavior by debt collectors. For example they can t: 1. Use rude, obscene, profane, or abusive language. 2. Call your neighbors. 3. Call you at work. 4. Imply that they are an attorney. 5. Communicate with you if you are represented by an attorney. 6. Call late at night. 7. Call early in the morning. 8. Call repeatedly to annoy or harass you. 9. In short there are more things they can t do then they can do. What Does the TCPA Protect Me From? This is the most lethal protection you have and hardly anyone knows about it. The debt collection industry HATES it. Very simply it makes it a federal offence to call your cell phone with automated telephone equipment without your permission. The penalty is extreme: $500 bucks per phone call. It s real, in fact we just settled a case for $205,000. Yes, that s right $205,000.

5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT BILL COLLECTORS 1. When can a debt collector call me? Debt collectors can only call you between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. 2. Can debt collectors leave a message on my answering machine? It depends. Generally, if they only leave their name and number, that s fine. But if they leave any information like they are calling about a debt, it is a violation. 3. What if they call me about someone else s debt? If they call you for someone else s debt or a debt that you don t owe they can be sued and pay you up to $ and my fees. 4. What about calls at work? They can only call you at work to verify your location information. If you tell them you aren t allowed to get calls at work they must stop calling. They can t say you owe a debt, or call more than once or they can be sued by me and pay my fees and damages to you of up to $ Can they garnishing my wages? No. Not until they: a. Hire an attorney and file suit against you. b. Win the lawsuit. c. Get an order from the court. d. Serve your employer with the court order. It takes months before they can start taking money out of your paycheck.

6 You can win this battle but you need an experienced Jacksonville Consumer Lawyer. 6. Can they put me in jail or threaten me with jail? No. You cannot be put in jail for owing a consumer debt, period. A collector who threatens you with jail is violating the law. 7. I received a summons to appear in court. I m afraid if I go they ll lock me up. Will they? No, this is not Russia or China. a. I have to be at work on my court date. Can I just call and get it continued? No, if you try that you will lose the case. Most court clerks aren t allowed to continue a case for you over the phone. YOU HAVE TO SHOW UP. b. My friend, spouse, neighbor, boyfriend, girlfriend, said they ll go to court for me. Is that good enough? No. Go yourself or call me. 8. A debt collector calls me 10 times a day. I asked him to stop but he said he s going to call me repeatedly until I pay. Is that legal? No, engaging any person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with the intent to annoy, abuse or harass is a violation of the FDCPA & FCCPA. 9. What about calling my cell phone with an auto dialer? This may be a violation of both Federal & State Law, and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and entitles you to statutory damages, for each and every violation. If this is happening to you CALL US IMMEDIATELY. THIS IS A SERIOUS VIOLATION.

7 10. Why would they tell me things if they are not true? Isn t that lying and illegal? Yes, it is. While most debt collectors are law abiding professionals, occasionally a collector or collection company will violate the law routinely because they know most people don t know what the law is and therefore will not respond. It has worked for them thousands of times and they will continue to do it. They also know that people, especially the elderly or unsophisticated can be bullied and scared into paying money even if they don t owe it. 11. Who Can Debt Collectors Contact About Your Debt? The debtor (you) Your spouse Your attorney (if you have one) 12. Does the FDCPA & FCCPA apply to business debts? No, the FDCPA & FCCPA applies to personal debts and does not apply to business debts. To summarize, if a bill collector violates any provisions of the FDCPA (Federal Law) or FCCPA (State Law), we will sue them at no cost to you. They will pay our fees and you up to $1,000.00!

8 TELEPHONE CONSUMERS PROTECTION ACT FAQ S 1. What makes them think they can call my cell phone with an auto dialer? Often, when you got the credit card or bought the thing they are now going after you to pay for, you put a phone number on the application. If you put your cell number, the one they re calling you on, then you gave express consent and they are not breaking the law by calling you. If you tell them it s okay, then obviously it s okay but who would tell a bill collector it s okay to call my cell a thousand times? 2. If I call them back from my cell is that permission? No that s not prior express permission. You have to say it s okay to call me on my cell phone. 3. How do you know they re calling you from an auto-dialer? Short answer, you don t absolutely know. But most of the industry uses them and usually you can tell when you phone rings and you answer it and there s a short delay before your hear anything, that s probably an automatic telephone dialing system or auto dialer, for short. Odds are if you are getting one of these calls on your cell it s a company using an auto dialer.

9 4. I know lots of consumers who get debt collector calls at home. Are those all these $500-$1500 calls? No. What we are talking about are calls made to a cell phone. If the call at home is to your cell phone that s the violation. If it s a land line, while it may violate another law, it doesn t violate this one. Other laws like the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) apply to calls to land lines by debt collectors. But, a robo call to your cell phone doesn t have to be harassing. Any call they make is against the law. It can be civil and friendly and even helpful, but if it s to your cell phone and you didn t give express written consent for them to call that cell phone and its an auto dialer, they are liable: end of story. Secondly, it doesn t even have to be a debt collector. It can be the creditor that you owed the money to, to begin with. All they have to do is call your cell with an auto dialer without your express permission. 5. Well how would these people get my cell number? There are many places on the internet where they can look up someone s cell phone number if they have your name and general area where you live. But more commonly the way creditors get your cell number is when you call them back on your cell phone or when you get a collection call at home or work and they then trap your cell phone number. How to document: 1. Save the record of the phone number that called your cell phone. If you know how, you should download the messages with a date and time stamp to a digital recorder or computer. 2. If they leave messages you need to save those for 2 reasons

10 a. They show obviously who made the call and when b. Sometimes the messages themselves will violate other laws against harassing phone calls. 3. Save your cell phone bills that have the numbers of the company that called your cell phone. 4. Finally, call me and I can light them up! Wouldn t it be great to turn the tables on them? To wrap up, even though we ve been talking about cell phone calls and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), any calls made to any phone can violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). You should also contact me if you think a debt collector is harassing you, your family, calling your neighbors or calling you at work about a debt you owe. ROBERT PETERS, P.A JACKSONVILLE OFFICE FERANNDINA BEACH OFFICE