If you've received a written debt collection letter or believe that you've been victimized by a debt collector, contact this office for a free evaluation of your case.  If there has indeed been an FDCPA violation, you may be entitled to statutory damages of up to $1,000, actual damages for abusive behavior that has caused mental distress, humiliation, and embarrassment, and attorneys' fees. 

Examples of improper debt collection practices include:

1) Calling you at work if you've told the collector that it's inconvenient for you to take such calls or that your employer prohibits personal calls.

2) Telling others such as your family members, co-workers, and neighbors that you owe money.

3) Continuing to contact you if the collector knows that you're being represented by an attorney.

4) Calling you repeatedly, or calling you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.

5) Asking neighbors to bring you phone messages or asking you to go to their place to take a phone call.

6) Falsely implying that a debt collector is an attorney.

7) Falsely implying that you've committed a crime and could go to jail for not paying a debt.

8) Threatening to seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages, unless there is already a legal judgment against you.

9) Sending you anything that looks like an official document from a court or government agency, when it isn't.

10) Collecting any amount greater than your debt, unless allowed by law.

Keep in mind that what may appear to you to be a proper debt collection letter written by a lawyer or collection agency could contain language that violates the FDCPA (or fail to contain required language outlining your rights).  Receiving such a letter could entitle you to the damages noted above.  For example, an initial debt collection letter must contain statements that (A) unless you, within thirty days after receipt of the notice, dispute the validity of the debt, or any portion of it, the debt will be assumed to be valid by the debt collector; (B) if you notify the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, the debt collector will obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment against you and a copy of such verification or judgment will be mailed to you; and (C) upon your written request within the thirty-day period, the debt collector will provide the consumer with the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.  All debt collection letters must state that the communication is from a debt collector attempting to collect a debt and that any information obtained will be used for that purpose.