About Creditor Abuse

Are you being harassed by creditors?

Creditors and debt collectors are prohibited by law from carrying out harassment or other abusive practices against you. You have a legal obligation to pay on your debts, but even when you have fallen behind on your payments or defaulted on a loan, you do have rights against your creditors. It can be difficult to recover the unpaid balance on a debt from delinquent borrowers, and lenders and debt collectors are accustomed to having to employ a wide variety of tactics in order to obtain payment. However, certain practices are prohibited by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

The FDCPA says that "a debt collector may not engage in any conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person in connection with the collection of a debt." This includes:

• Threating coerce payment from debtors through violence
• Threatening to damage debtors' personal property or reputation
• Using obscene or profane language to intimidate or abuse the debtor
• Publishing lists of debtors who allegedly refuse to pay outstanding debts
• Incessantly calling debtors, attempting to annoy or harass them

Additionally, debt collectors may never use false of deceptive practices to obtain payment from debtors. This includes making false threats. For instance, a debt collector cannot say, "You'll go to jail if you don't pay me right now," when the collector does not really know whether or not the debtor will be arrested or incarcerated. Similarly, creditors cannot make legal threats unless they threaten viable legal action and actually intend on pursuing it. A debt collector cannot say "I'm going to take legal action" unless he/she actually intends too.

Impersonating legal professionals is considered prohibited as well. Debt collectors are not allowed, under any circumstances, to pretend like they are attorneys. If a debt collector leads a debtor to believe that he/she is a lawyer, the debt collector is in violation of the FDCPA. Creditors cannot pretend to speak on behalf of attorneys as well. This is also considered deceptive and abusive. Creditors may not lead debtors to believe that specific documents are legally relevant, or lead debtors to believe that relevant documents are not important.

Know Your Rights!

If you have suffered from creditor abuse, do not hesitate to talk to an attorney from Price Law Group today. At the firm, our clients are our number one priority. We believe that abusive debt collectors should be held responsible for their actions – if you've been victimized; we are ready to help you.If you have received calls outside of the hours of 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM, if you have been subjected to abusive language or threats of violence or if you have been contacted by someone falsely claiming to be an attorney, you can file a claim under the FDCPA.

Other prohibited actions include contacting neighbors or employers about the debt, attempting to embarrass the debtor publicly or even persisting in attempts to contact after the debtor has made a formal request to end such attempts. If you believe that you have been subjected to abuse at the hands of a creditor or debt collector, you should meet with an experienced attorney at the firm who can advise you of the possibility of legal action.

An attorney from Price Law Group may be able put an end to the attempts of your creditors to reach you by filling a lawsuit. If it is proven that the creditor violated the law through abusive practices, you may even be awarded punitive damages. Your attorney can also consult with you about the advisability of declaring bankruptcy. If you do file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you will immediately be protected by an automatic stay, meaning that your creditors will not be allowed to continue trying to recover debts from you.