Texas and federal laws are designed to provide statutory guidance to debt collectors – and statutory protection to consumers. For instance, the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) provides a legal cause of action against a debt collector who makes certain false or misleading statements and the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) prohibits debt collectors from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect from you.
Similarly, the federal Bankruptcy Code requires debt collectors to stop all state debt collection activities once the automatic stay is in effect. Typically, the stay goes into effect upon the filing of your bankruptcy case, so in the customary circumstance once you make the decision to declare bankruptcy, your debt collectors should make the decision to stop any effort to secure payment. In fact, you can get in serious trouble for making side payments to debt collectors when the stay goes into effect.
Unfortunately, despite these consumer protections and remedies, some debt collectors have little regard for your – or your other creditors’ – rights under state and federal law. And a number of pioneering, tech-savvy collectors have gone so far as to stalk debtors on social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. In some ways, social media is a new and developing area; on the other hand, harassment and abuse is harassment and abuse whether its in person, over the phone, or online.
Do you think that you’ve been the victim of unfair, abusive or deceptive debt collection practices? These issues commonly arise in civil litigation and, in particular, bankruptcy litigation. Learn how to avail yourself of your rights by talking to the attorneys and dedicated professionals at the Dallas law firm of Fears Nachawati today.