When Creditors Break the Rules: Your Rights Under the FDCPA

Episode Summary:

Most people in debt believe they have no rights when creditors and collectors come calling. They're wrong. In this episode of Clear Your Debt, Claim Your Future, attorney Efstathios Georgiou of Georgiou Law breaks down the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) — the federal law that protects consumers from abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection.

You'll learn what the FDCPA actually covers, who it applies to, and the concrete rights it gives you, including limits on when and how collectors can contact you, your right to demand that contact stop, and your right to dispute a debt and force verification. Efstathios also explains the validation notice collectors are required to send, the damages available when the law is violated — including statutory damages and attorney fees — and the layered protections New York consumers have beyond the federal floor under New York General Business Law § 601 and NYC's consumer protection rules.

Finally, he covers why documentation is everything when pursuing an FDCPA claim, the strict one-year statute of limitations, and how hiring a law firm can stop collector contact the moment you're retained. Knowing the rules changes how you experience the collection process. You are not powerless.

If debt collectors are contacting you and you believe their conduct may be crossing legal lines, Georgiou Law can help you evaluate your situation and understand whether your rights have been violated. Call (917) 764-3072 or visit georgioulawpllc.com to learn more. Georgiou Law represents New York consumers in credit card debt defense and consumer debt settlement.

This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Listening to this episode does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

When creditors break the rules, your rights under the FDCPA. You're listening to Clear Your Debt, Claim Your Future, presented by Georgiou Law, a New York law firm focused on credit card debt defense and consumer debt settlement. My name is Eustavios Georgiou. Most people in debt believe they have no rights when it comes to creditors and collection calls. They are wrong. Federal law, specifically the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, known as the FTCPA, provides meaningful protections to consumers against abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices. For the next couple of minutes, I'm going to explain what those rights are, what constitutes a violation, and what you can do when those rights are ignored. What is the FTCPA? The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was enacted in 1977 and is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It applies to third-party debt collectors, people and companies collecting debts owed to another. It does not generally apply to original creditors collecting their own debts. It covers personal, family, and household debts, including credit cards, medical bills, and personal loans. Business debts are not covered. Communication restrictions. The FDCPA limits when and how collectors can contact you. Collectors may not contact you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in your local time zone. Collectors may not contact you at work if they know or should know that your employer does not permit such calls. Collectors may not contact you repeatedly in a way that is designed to harass you. If you are represented by an attorney, collectors must communicate with your attorney, not with you directly. The right to cease communication, you have the right to demand that a debt collector stop contacting you. This is done in writing. Once the collector receives your written request, they may only contact you once more to acknowledge the request and to inform you of any specific action they intend to take. After that, they must stop. This does not eliminate the debt. It does not prevent a lawsuit. But what it does do is stop the calls and letters. If they continue contacting you after a proper cease communication request, each contact is a separate violation. Prohibited conduct. The FTCPA prohibits a wide range of abusive and deceptive conduct. Collectors may not use profane language or make threats of violence. They may not falsely represent the amount that is owed. They may not falsely claim to be attorneys or law enforcement. Collectors may not threaten legal action they do not intend to take or that they are legally prohibited from taking. Collectors may not use deceptive means to collect a debt or obtain information. These are not minor technicalities. They are enforceable legal requirements. The validation notice. Within five days of the first contact with you, a debt collector must send you a written validation notice. This notice must include the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor, a statement of your right to dispute the debt within 30 days, a statement that if you dispute the debt in writing, the collector must obtain and mail you verification, and a statement that if you request it in writing, the collector must provide the name and address of the original creditor. If the collector fails to send this notice, that failure itself is a violation. The right to dispute. You have 30 days from receiving the validation notice to dispute the debt in writing. Once you send a timely written dispute, the collector must stop collection activities until they provide verification of the debt. This is not a magic wand. It does not eliminate the debt or prevent the lawsuit, but it forces verification and temporarily suspends collection. Disputes should be sent by certified mail with return receipt, so you have proof of the date and the content. What damages are available? If a debt collector violates the FTCPA, you may be entitled to actual damages for things such as lost wages or medical expenses caused by the violation, statutory damages, up to $1,000 per action, not per violation, and attorney fees. If you prevail, the collector pays your lawyer. The attorney fee provision is very important. It means that consumers can bring FTCPA claims without upfront legal costs in many cases because the attorney is compensated by the defendant if this case succeeds. New York protections beyond the FTCPA. New York provides additional consumer protections that go beyond the FTCPA. The New York City Consumer Protection Law provides its own remedies for abusive debt collection. New York General Business Law Section 601 prohibits many of the same practices the FTCPA prohibits and covers some original creditors that the FTCPA does not. The New York Department of Financial Services regulates debt collectors and can take enforcement action against licensed collectors. As a New York consumer, you have layers of protection, not just the federal floor. How the FTCPA intersects with debt defense and settlement. At Geordu Law, our work as a law firm means that creditors must direct all communication to us once we have been retained. Direct contact with our client after retention is itself an FTCPA violation for third-party collectors. This is one of the practical advantages of hiring legal representation. The call stopped, not because the debt disappeared, but because the law requires collectors to talk to us, not to you. And if violations occurred before we were retained, we can evaluate whether the consumer has an affirmative FTCPA claim. Documentation is everything. If you believe you've been subjected to an FTCPA violation, documentation is critical. Keep records of every call, the date, the time, the caller identity, what was said. Keep every letter and notice. Do not discard collection mail. Save voicemails. If you feel harassed or abused, write down what happened immediately after each incident. Evidence of violation is what make FTCPA claims viable. Without documentation, even legitimate violations become hard to prove. The statute of limitations for FTCPA claims. FTCPA claims must be brought within one year of the violation. This is a short window. Violations that occurred more than a year ago generally cannot be pursued, regardless of how serious they were. If you believe a collector has violated the FDPCA, do not wait. The clock runs from the date of the violation, not the date that you discovered it. Knowing your rights changes your experience. One of the most important things I can tell you is this. Knowing that collectors have rules and knowing what those rules are changes how you experience the collection process. You are not powerless. You have rights created by federal and state law. When those rights are violated, there are real consequences for the violator. The power and balance between collectors and consumers is real, but it is not absolute. If you're being contacted by debt collectors and you believe their conduct may be crossing legal lines, call me at 917-764-3072. We can evaluate your situation and help you understand whether your rights have been violated. This has been Clear Your Dead Claim Your Future, presented by Georgia Law. Until next time, everyone. Thank you.