Debtor Rights
Debt collection is a multi-billion dollar industry, best known for its strong-arm
tactics. Congress, along with many states, in recognition of the industry's brutal methods, have enacted laws
to protect consumers from unfair practices. Seraph Legal can help you when dealing with unscrupulous
collection agencies. At Seraph Legal, we use the law to protect our clients
from unfair methods used by debt collectors in three primary areas:
- Collection,
- Reporting, and
- Litigation.
Collection
Debt collectors have one job - making you pay. And while we fully support them in fairly seeking payment for
validly owed debts, you are entitled to respect, fairness, honesty, and full compliance with the law. One of
these laws is a Federal Statute known as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. 1692.
It is no surprise that many debt collectors will say and do almost anything, legal or not, to get your check. They
will harrass you, argue with you, insult you, and use hundreds of other techniques - many of which are
illegal - because they're effective. Our clients have been threatened with jail, seizure of their paychecks,
humiliation, and more. But when collection agencies resort to these tools, they lose - because we sue
debt collectors for violating our clients' rights.
Reporting
Negative credit on your credit report can prevent you from buying a house, obtaining good rates for insurance,
opening new credit lines, or even getting a job or security clearance! That's the primary reason that company's
report negative credit - to force you to pay back debts they claim you owe. And all too often, these
companies misreport information on your credit report to make debts appear larger than they actually are,
more recent than they are, and more prejudicial against you. The Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681,
requires that information on your report must be accurate and that if you dispute a debt, it be properly
marked as disputed. If you feel that your rights have been violated by an unscrupulous company reporting
misinformation to your credit report, we can help!
Litigation
Are you being sued for a debt? We may be able to help you. Every debt is different and
everyone has unique circumstances, but experience shows us that many debts are actually unenforceable.
Most consumers believe that they don't stand a chance in court, but if you don't offer a defense,
the creditor will obtain a default judgment ... even if you don't owe the debt! Before letting your case
go to default, confer with one of our attorneys about your ability to defend the claim or settle for
much less than is claimed. Don't allow creditors to simply get a default judgment that will follow you
around for years and make it difficult to get new credit.
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Telephone Rights
In today's fast-paced society, privacy isn't something we simply want - it's a basic need. To be
able to withdraw from the world, if just for a few moments, and have time to think and relax.
One of the worst interruptions to your peace and quiet comes from that most indispensible of
devices - an item that we all carry with us almost everywhere we go - our phones. Some calls, we
can not ignore. Others, we look forward to taking. But still others are placed without our permission
and only to market to us or harrass us. Recognizing this, the United States Congress passed
the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) which limits these annoying calls (and faxes, too).
Home Phone
Ever pick up the phone to hear a pre-recorded message? "Are you paying too much on your
credit cards? Press 1 to learn blah blah blah." Yeah, we all get them. And if you didn't
give them your express permission to call you, they likely violate the TCPA, entitling you
to damages. However, while the TCPA prohibits most telemarketers from using recordings to
call your home phone, the TCPA permits informational calls (school closings and the like),
non-profit charities, Poll takers, and others who are not engaging in marketing to call your
landline phone without liability.
Cell Phone
Unlike your home phone, the TCPA is much more restrictive on calls to your cellular telephone. You must
give permission to all callers who wish to call your cell phone with any of the following:
- Pre-Recorded Messages
- Text Messages; or,
- By Using an Auto-Dialer.
That last one is very important because most debt collectors do not dial telephones by hand, but rather
use an autodialer to call your number. Statutory penalties for violations of the TCPA range from $500
to $1500 per call.
Junk Faxes
Similar to the rules governing cellular telephones, persons sending unsolicited advertisement faxes to
your machine must either have your express consent to do so or an established business relationship with you.
Understand that this doesn't cover every fax - it is directed against advertisements. Also, know that
providing your fax number to a vendor may well constitute consent for them to send you advertisements on
your fax machine. However, when you receive an advertising fax from someone you don't know, it is probably
a violation of the act entitling you to compensation.
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