Creditors and debt collectors are not allowed to repeatedly call you throughout the day trying to get you to pay them money.  The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) and Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“RFDCPA”) have very clear rules that state calling multiple times a day is not allowed.  Debt collectors and creditors are not allowed to perform any conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person.  Click here to read 15 U.S.C. Section 1692d.  Debt collectors and creditors are also not allowed to use any unfair or unconscionable means to collect or attempt to collect the alleged debt.  Click here to read 15 U.S.C. Section 1692f.  And, debt collectors and creditors are not allowed to cause a telephone to ring repeatedly in an attempt to collect a debt.  Click here to read California Civil Code Section 1788.11(d).  While the actual code sections of the FDCPA and RFDCPA do not specifically state, there is a large volume of case law that interprets how many calls a day combined with other factors is considered too many under the FDCPA and RFDCPA.

COMMON SCENARIOS:

A consumer owes a debt and does not have the ability to pay it back at that time.  He or she receives a collection call from a creditor or debt collector asking for payment.  The consumer informs the collection representative for the collection agency that he or she doesn’t have the money and can’t pay for the next month.  The collection agency tells consumer it will call back in a month for a payment.  At that point, the consumer believes they have some relief from collection calls.  But, two hours later he or she receives another call from the same collection agency requesting payment again.  The consumer informs the collection agent that he or she just received a call that day and informed the previous collection agent that a payment could not be made now but maybe one could be made next month.  The debt collector says that it will call next month.  Now the consumer really believes he or she won’t receive any calls for a month.  But, of course, a few hours later another calls is made to the consumer by the same collection agency.  This time the consumer is frustrated and doesn’t answer the phone.  The following day the consumer again receives three or more calls from the creditor or debt collector attempting to collect a debt and this continues each day.  

It is my opinion that this is the type of repeated and harassing collection calls the FDCPA and RFDCPA are meant to protect against.  

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU ARE RECEIVING THREE OR MORE COLLECTIONS CALLS A DAY?

It is extremely important to document these calls.  You cannot count on the debt collector or creditor admitting to calling you as frequently as they do.  Oftentimes, during the lawsuit we are initially given only a fraction of the calls that were actually made to the consumer.  Moreover, documentation is important because sometimes if you are receiving calls from multiple collection agencies it can get confusing who is calling and how often.  We have seen plenty of examples where consumers are receiving multiple collections calls a day but each call is from a different creditor.  Consequently, we suggest that consumers either take screen shots of their telephone caller ID to log the collection calls.   We also suggest writing a call log of the date, time, and telephone number that called them.  This is great evidence that can be used against creditors and debt collectors to prove the number of calls that they have been making.  If you would like a copy of a call log you can use to track calls, feel free to call us and we will provide you with a free one.

If you have received or are receiving three or more collection calls in a single day from the same creditor or debt collector, please give us a call for a no cost case evaluation.  We assist consumers is San Diego, Los Angeles, and throughout California.  1-800-219-3577.