CREDITORS AND DEBT COLLECTORS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE OR THREATEN TO USE VIOLENCE OR CRIMINAL MEANS TO HARM YOU OR YOUR PROPERTY

Has a debt collector or creditor used or threatened to violence or other criminal means to harm you or  your property?

Debt collectors and creditors have become so egregious in their attempts to collect on debts, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (RFDCPA) actually had to prohibit them from committing violence or other illegal acts against consumers and their property, or threatening to do so. Most people have experienced a rude or aggressive debt collector at some point in their life; after all, collectors generally work on commission, getting paid for the amount of debt they are able to collect. But have you had a creditor or collector threaten to kill you, have your children taken away, rape your mother, or shoot and eat your pet dog if you do not pay a bill? This is exactly what some unscrupulous collectors have resorted to.

In this multibillion dollar industry, collection tactics have become more aggressive and some collector’s tactics are simply over the top. In a story by CNN Money, Confessions of former debt collectors, one former debt collector describes overhearing a co-worker threaten to send someone to a consumer’s house to beat them with a tire iron. Other former collectors describe the company policy as requiring them to threaten to take consumer’s property; their television, electronics, any property a person would not want someone to take from their home. Another report by the New York Times describes a practice of Accretive Health of placing debt collectors in hospitals in order to discourage patients from seeking emergency medical care until they pay a bill. In a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), one consumer alleges that a collection agency collecting for her daughter’s funeral expenses threatened to dig up her daughter’s remains and hang them from a tree if she did not pay the bill.

While the FTC attempts to stay ahead of the collectors, banning agencies and agency employees who uses unfair and abusive practices to collect on a debt, from working in the industry, it simply cannot stop them all. Any creditor or debt collector who threatens to hurt you, your family, your pets, or take your property away from you is in violation of the law and needs to be held accountable.

Have you been threatened with violence or other illegal activity by a creditor or debt collector? If so, please contact our office for a free, no obligation consultation at 1-800-219-3577.