What Are My Rights When I Am Contacted About Credit Card Debt?
Consumers in Georgia who have significant credit card debt and are behind on payments likely are receiving communications from a wide range of debt collectors. You may be getting phone calls — on your own cell phone or at work — in addition to texts, emails, and other forms of contact. Many of these calls can be aggravating and anxiety-inducing, and it is important to understand your rights. To be clear, the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) provides a wide range of protections that protect consumers against harassment and abusive or deceptive practices used by debt collection companies to recoup money.
What should you know about your rights under the FDCPA? The following are the key protections provided by the FDCPA.
Limitations on Time, Place, and Frequency of Contact
The FDCPA prohibits debt collectors from contacting you at times and places that are unusual or inconvenient for you. In general, debt collectors cannot contact you before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. In addition, if you tell a debt collector they cannot contact you at work, they must abide by that. Further, if you answer a call and tell a debt collector that they are contacting you at an inconvenient time, they are required to end the call. They also cannot continue attempting to collect the debt from you at that time. What about the frequency of debt collection calls? There is a presumption that debt collection calls are unreasonable if they occur more than seven times within a single seven-day period, or within a seven-day period after already making contact with you.
Limitations on Forms of Communication
The FDCPA also limits the forms of communication a debt collector may use in order to reach you. While you can be contacted in a wide range of private forms of communication — phone calls, texts, emails, and social media direct messages — you have the ability to request that a debt collector stop using a specific form of communication. If you make such a request, they are required to provide you with other options. Further, while private DMs are permitted on social media platforms, debt collectors are prohibited from making any public posts about your debts or their attempts to contact you to collect on a debt.
Prohibitions Against Harassment and Deception
Debt collectors are prohibited under the FDCPA from harassing you or harassing anyone you know about your debt. The FDCPA also prohibits debt collectors from engaging in deceptive or abusive practices. Such practices include lying to you about who they are or threatening you with action that cannot actually be taken against you (such as having you arrested if you do not pay).
Contact a Georgia Credit Card Debt Lawyer
Whether you have additional questions about protections available to you, or you need help determining the best way to handle the massive credit card debt you are facing, it is important to know that you are not alone. Our firm assists clients throughout Lilburn and in the Atlanta area regularly with credit card debt settlement and other forms of debt settlement so they can get their lives back on track financially. Contact an experienced Georgia credit card debt attorney at Konn Law Firm LLC.
Sources:
ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/rules/fair-debt-collection-practices-act-text
consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/understand-how-cfpb-debt-collection-rule-impacts-you/
