As a bankruptcy lawyer, I deal with people every day who are stressed out because debt collectors are calling non-stop from 8:00 in the morning until 9:00 at night. I tell these stressed out people that the debt collectors have the right to call and call and call again as long as they stay within the bounds of what the law allows them to do. (Although if and when I am hired to represent the debtor, I can make the telephone calls stop.)
However, there are some debt collectors who seem to have never been taught the difference between legal and illegal methods of debt collection. Or maybe they’ve been taught yet they just don’t care. I say this because for some debt collectors there seems to be no line that they won’t cross.
I have a couple of good lawyer friends who make a very good living by suing unscrupulous debt collectors who routinely use collection methods that are simply abusive and illegal.
A simple Internet search will reveal example upon example of outrageous, despicable actions committed by unethical debt collectors as they seek to make debtors feel ashamed, guilty, scared and intimidated. Not too long ago, one of my lawyer friends was featured on a Dateline NBC story about the seamy side of debt collection.
Here is a current story about a widow who is suing a debt collection agency for knowingly and willfully exacerbating her husband’s poor health condition and ultimately causing his death.
