There is no shortage of debt collection agencies throughout the country ready to pounce on consumers who have fallen behind in paying their bills. Millions of Americans are in debt right now and for many, their daily lives are further soured by the nagging, insistent, and sometimes threatening calls of debt collection agencies.
Several companies are in the business of collecting debt in America, and many think it is OK to attempt to collect on delinquent debt through tactics that are explicitly against consumer protection laws such as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The debt these collection agencies come after were sold to them for as little as 3 to 10 cents on the dollar.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) are the two main laws designed to protect consumers from harassment by telemarketers, scam artist, and predatory debt collection agencies. Both of these laws are backed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and consumer law attorneys throughout South Florida.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act aims to protect consumer privacy by restricting the actions of debt collectors. This federal law prohibits numerous practices that are considered harassment. Of these many unacceptable behaviors that debt collectors are fond of utilizing, the most common include:
Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, calls and text messages that are put through by automatic dialing systems and prerecorded messages are prohibited if the persons receiving such communications did not expressly consent to them. Anyone who has received incessant communication from a debt collection agency can explore their legal options with a Miami TCPA attorney. TCPA violations can bring $500 to $1500 per call or text.
Midland Credit Management hails from San Diego and is owned by Midland Funding, LLC, which buys unpaid debts. In 2014, a lawsuit was filed against Midland by a New York resident who claimed they violated several of his rights under the FDCPA after several attempts on the company’s part to confront him regarding an outstanding cell phone bill. In addition, they made several threats when he attempted to dispute the bill. This behavior is strictly prohibited, as noted above.
On the Consumer Affairs website, Midland Credit has a terribly low satisfaction rating of just 1 out of 5 stars from 150 reviews. There are hundreds of complaints against the company for accusing people of debt and refusing to answer questions about it, placing judgments on credit reports, and more. Be aware that these companies can call from several numbers even from multiple area codes to fool consumers.
Find out how you may stand to receive $500 to $1500 per call or text with the counsel of a Florida TCPA attorney like Jibrael S. Hindi and his experienced team of consumer law attorneys. Call The Law Offices of Jibrael S. Hindi at 1-844-JIBRAEL today.