Debt Collection
Debt Collection and the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Our firm represents companies who collect debt and clients who have suffered losses or are being harassed by debt collectors. If you are a company we can help you establish valid debt collection practices. If you are a consumer how fees their rights have been violated we can help you protect your rights. Even if you have paid the debt in question, you may have a claim against the debt collector. You must act fast as there is a 2-year statute of limitations. This means you only have 2 years from the initial contact to file your claim.
How to Protect Yourself: Debt Collections/Consumer
You may have questions relating to debt collections. A “debt collector is someone who regularly tries to collect debts owed to others. A debt collector may contact you if you are behind in your payments to a creditor on a personal, family or household debt, or if an error has been made in your account.
A debt collector may contact you in person, by mail, telephone, telegram, or fax. However, a collector may not communicate with you or your family with such frequency as can reasonably be expected to be harassing. A debt collector may not contact you at work if the collector knows your employer disapproves. A collector may not contact you at unreasonable times or places, such as before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., unless you agree.
A debt collector is required to send you a written notice within five days after you are first contacted, telling you the amount of money you owe, the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money, and what action to take if you believe you do not owe the money.
You may stop a collector from contacting you by writing a letter to the agency and telling them to stop. Once the agency receives your letter, they may not contact you again except to say there will be no further contact, or to notify you if the debt collector or the creditor intends to take some specific action.
If you do not believe you owe the debt, you may write to the collection agency within 30 days after you are first contacted saying you don't owe the money. The agency may not contact you after that unless you are sent proof of the debt, such as a copy of the bill. Although failure to dispute a debt can be reported to a credit-reporting agency, it can not be used in court to establish that the debt is valid.
A debt collector may not harass or abuse any person. Debt collectors may not use threats of violence against the person, property or reputation, use obscene or profane language, advertise the debt, or use false use or misleading statements that falsely imply that they are attorneys, or that you have committed a crime, or that they operate or work for a credit agency, or misrepresent the amount of your debt, that an attorney is involved in collecting a debt, indicate that papers are of legal significance when they are not.
Debt collectors may not tell you or imply that you will be arrested if you do not pay. In addition unless the debt collector has a right to and intends to, they may not tell you that they will seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages, or that a lawsuit will be filed against you,
If you or a loved one have been contacted by a debt collector, contact us online or call us at 904-355-8888 to speak to one of the attorneys at Wood, Atter & Associates We can help by filing suit against the collection agency for violating state and/or federal law. If you prevail, you may be awarded your actual damages, attorney’s fees and costs.
Our firm represents companies who collect debt and clients who have suffered losses or are being harassed by debt collectors. If you are a company we can help you establish valid debt collection practices. If you are a consumer how fees their rights have been violated we can help you protect your rights. Even if you have paid the debt in question, you may have a claim against the debt collector. You must act fast as there is a 2-year statute of limitations. This means you only have 2 years from the initial contact to file your claim.
How to Protect Yourself: Debt Collections/Consumer
You may have questions relating to debt collections. A “debt collector is someone who regularly tries to collect debts owed to others. A debt collector may contact you if you are behind in your payments to a creditor on a personal, family or household debt, or if an error has been made in your account.
A debt collector may contact you in person, by mail, telephone, telegram, or fax. However, a collector may not communicate with you or your family with such frequency as can reasonably be expected to be harassing. A debt collector may not contact you at work if the collector knows your employer disapproves. A collector may not contact you at unreasonable times or places, such as before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., unless you agree.
A debt collector is required to send you a written notice within five days after you are first contacted, telling you the amount of money you owe, the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money, and what action to take if you believe you do not owe the money.
You may stop a collector from contacting you by writing a letter to the agency and telling them to stop. Once the agency receives your letter, they may not contact you again except to say there will be no further contact, or to notify you if the debt collector or the creditor intends to take some specific action.
If you do not believe you owe the debt, you may write to the collection agency within 30 days after you are first contacted saying you don't owe the money. The agency may not contact you after that unless you are sent proof of the debt, such as a copy of the bill. Although failure to dispute a debt can be reported to a credit-reporting agency, it can not be used in court to establish that the debt is valid.
A debt collector may not harass or abuse any person. Debt collectors may not use threats of violence against the person, property or reputation, use obscene or profane language, advertise the debt, or use false use or misleading statements that falsely imply that they are attorneys, or that you have committed a crime, or that they operate or work for a credit agency, or misrepresent the amount of your debt, that an attorney is involved in collecting a debt, indicate that papers are of legal significance when they are not.
Debt collectors may not tell you or imply that you will be arrested if you do not pay. In addition unless the debt collector has a right to and intends to, they may not tell you that they will seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages, or that a lawsuit will be filed against you,
If you or a loved one have been contacted by a debt collector, contact us online or call us at 904-355-8888 to speak to one of the attorneys at Wood, Atter & Associates We can help by filing suit against the collection agency for violating state and/or federal law. If you prevail, you may be awarded your actual damages, attorney’s fees and costs.