Consumer Protection / Debit Harassment
Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA):
- The Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA) was enacted as a means of regulating the activities of consumer collection agencies within the state of Florida. The FCCPA is unique to Florida. The FCCPA is a legislative attempt to curb what the legislature found to be a series of abuses in the area of debtor-creditor relations.
- In the collection of a debt, common examples of debt harassment are: 1) use of threat of force or violence; 2) disclosing the status of a debt or other private financial information to unauthorized third party(ies); 3) name calling (e.g., deadbeat); 4) acting like an attorney or government official; 5) threatening to falsely report information to the credit bureau; 6) seeking to collect an illegitimate debt or charge; and 7) communicating directly with borrower(s)/debtor(s) represented by counsel.
- A person experiencing debt harassment or abusive debt collection practices under the FCCPA may be entitled to damages. Consult a reputable consumer protection attorney to discuss all of your options.
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
The FDCPA is very similar to Florida’s FCCPA but it is the Federal Counterpart. They are similar in that they both seek to curb the same type of abusive debt collection practices. The main difference, however, is that the FDCPA only applies to “debt collectors”. To determine whether you have a viable cause of action under the FDCPA, a consultation and full case review is required.
A person experiencing debt harassment or abusive debt collection practices under the FDCPA by a debt collector may be entitled to damages. Consult a reputable consumer protection attorney to discuss all of your options.
