Stop Bill Collectors!

Thousands of people have successfully sued harassing debt collection agencies and won. the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act allows you to claim up to $1,000 for each violation of the FDCPA. In addition to the $1,000 per violation (one harassing phone call from a debt collector counts as a violation), you can claim financial damages, court costs, and legal fees. Here’s how to do it: the easy way.

How to Sue Bill Collectors in Small Claims Court and Win Damages

1. Read the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and familiarize yourself with what credit collection agencies are, and aren’t allowed to do.
2. Keep a list of times and dates that the collection agency called. Write down the collector’s name if you can get it, exactly what was said. Write down every picky detail: the more information you have, the more a judge is going to believe that you are credible. When you sue in civil court, the judge sides with the most credible witness: it isn’t about guilt or innocence. He’ll either believe your side of the story, or he’ll believe the credit collections people. If you present yourself as an innocent consumer who has kept careful record of complaints, he’ll more likely side with you than the debt collection company–who’s going to arrive in court looking guilty anyway.
3. What you can sue for ($1,000 each violation):
   • Failure to validate your debt and continuing to pursue collection activity or continue to report to credit bureaus (FDCPA, Section 809 (b),).
   • Cashing post-dated checks before the date on the check (FDCPA Section 808).
   • Calling you collect.
   • Threatening to take your personal property without a judgment (FDCPA Section 808).
   • Calling you after 9 PM at night or before 8 AM in the morning (FDCPA Section 805).
   • Calls you at work if you have informed them that your employer prohibits those calls (FDCPA Section 805 (a)(3)).
   • Calls any third party about you: relatives, friends, neighbors (FDCPA Section 805).
   • Uses harassment or abuse (FDCPA Section 806).
   • Threaten to (or actually carry out) wage garnishment, property seizure without a judgment (FDCPA Section 807).
   • Threaten to have you arrested (FDCPA Section 807).
   • Sue you anywhere else except for where you live or where you signed the agreement (FDCPA Section 811 (a) (2)).
4. Locate your local district attorney’s office and state that you want to report a debt collection agency for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Ask if the office knows of any resources to help you, as a consumer, sue. Depending on the size of your city, the district attorney’s office may have procedures in place to help you directly and sue on your behalf. For example, The State of Maryland recently sued San Diego’s Encore Capital for unfair debt collection practices.
5. Find out if there are any Debt Collection Abuse Lawyer’s in your area. Here’s an example of one in California. Google that phrase: if nothing comes up, don’t panic–you can still sue on your own behalf, quite easily.
6. Find the small claims court where the debt collection agency does business. If a debt collection company is a corporation, you can sue them where the contract was broken (this is most probably where you live, not where the agency is located). Find out if the agency is a corporation, an LLC, or other entity. Then check with your local small claims court for filing rules. Many jurisdictions have online help, such as this one in California. If you are unsure of where to file, you can also find filing help from your state’s consumer affairs department (Google your state and “consumer affairs” to bring up the information, or call your local state government office and ask for the number).
7. Fill out the forms and pay the filing fee (nominal, usually under $100).
8. Show up for your court date with paperwork, phone records, affidavits from witnesses, and any other scrap of evidence you can present.
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Related posts:

1. Debt Collector Harrassment: Craig Cunningham’s Secret Weapon
2. Collection Agency Letter to Stop Harrassment Calls
3. Know Your Rights About Debt Collectors
4. ID, Please! How to use the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act to Outwit Bill Collectors.
5. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act FDCPA in Plain English

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 8:53 am and is filed under General Info. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.