The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) is a federal law that was enacted to set limits on how creditors act when they are attempting to collect from a debtor. However, if you live in Florida you are afforded even more protection from abusive credit collectors under the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (“FCCPA”).
Under the FCCPA, “any person” can be subject to penalties for violation of Florida Fla. Stat. § 559.72 which lists the most common prohibited practices. This means that these laws not only apply to the original creditor, but also any person that they have assigned the debt to or hired to collect the debt on their behalf including attorneys.
Consumer debt is defined as a personal debt that arises out of “a transaction in which the money, property, insurance, or services which are the subject of the transaction are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, whether or not such obligation has been reduced to judgment.” Fla. Stat. § 559.55(6-8).
TSome of the most common prohibited actions under the FCCPA include: Contacting debtors between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. without permission, contacting a third parties about your debt, using obscene or profane language when communicating, communicating directly with debtors who are already represented by an attorney, and using or threatening to use force or violence or pretending to be a police office.
If you find that a debt collector has violated any of these FCCPA provision then you may be entitled to not only actual and statutory damages up to $1,000, but also punitive damages and your attorney’s fees and court costs.
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