Consumer Law

Why We Sue Abusive Debt Collectors Instead Of Just Asking Them To Stop

By M. Stan Herring

Sometimes defense lawyers tell us we should have just told the debt collectors that we caught them doing something wrong (harassing conduct, false credit reporting, contacting third parties, etc) and let them fix it instead of suing them. While at first this sounds reasonable, the reason the debt collectors want this is very malicious.

Collection agencies think they should be allowed to violate the law and then when one out of ten or one out of a hundred consumers hires a lawyer, then the lawyer should tell the collection agency how it is violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and as long as the collection agency promises to "behave" no suit should be filed.

This is wrong on several levels. We represent consumers - we are not traffic cops. Our job is to sue abusive debt collectors - it is not to issue "warnings". Even if we were like the police - think of it like this. If the police see someone stealing and they catch the thief, can the thief say "Oh well, you caught me this one time out of a hundred. Tell you what Officer, I'll just put this money back and we'll call it even, ok?" That makes no sense!

In the same manner, if the debt collector just had to obey the law occasionally when they get caught, what incentive would there be to do the right thing? None. In addition, the FDCPA has been around for 30 years! This is not a new thing. Collection agencies and debt buyers know exactly what the law is and how to comply with it. They have just chosen to violate it blatantly - particularly when it comes to credit reporting and contacting third parties (neighbors, family, co-workers, etc).

Congress intended that consumers could and would sue to help encourage abusive debt collectors to clean their act up. So, are we embarrassed about suing abusive debt collectors instead of "giving them a warning"? Absolutely not!

If you have been abused by a collection agency, feel free to contact us. We don't issue warning tickets - we sue abusive collectors.

Full post as published by Alabama Consumer Blog on May 03, 2008 (boomark / email).