social media Archives - FREE CONSULTATION

After dodging collection calls for more than 10 years, a Brighton Heights man said his experience with a third-party collection agency went from annoying to cyber stalking. He said his student loan debt ballooned from around $80,000 to $270,000 following years without payment. In 2012, he hired an attorney and an accountant to help him set up a payment plan. He believed the worst was behind him.

This was until a picture taken at Regent Square restaurant Square Café with PBS personality Rick Sebak was posted on Facebook and shared with more than 5,000 people. Within days, a person who was looking for him contacted the Square Café and left a number that traced back to the collection agency, Windham Professionals, Inc.

The laws outlined in the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act of 1977 apply to collection attempts made through digital media (i.e. – text messaging and social media). Full and honest disclosure of identity and the intent to collect a debt is mandatory for collection agencies.

The act prohibits the following:
• Contacting third parties without prior consent from the debtor or a court unless they are seeking location information for the debtor;
• It bans disclosing debt obligations to third parties;
• Contacting debtors BEFORE 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m.;
• Directly contacting consumers who have attorneys handling the debt (i.e. – bankruptcy attorney);
• Making false or misleading statements;
• Using obscene or profane language;
• Using threats of violence to collect.

Debt collectors who violate these provisions can face fines of up to $1,000 per violation- money that goes directly to the debtor.
If the debt collector in fact researched Square Café by becoming friends with the Brighton Heights man on Facebook under false pretenses or by connecting with the debtor’s friends under false pretenses and without prior consent, the company is in violation of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.

Recently, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau clarified debt collection rules, including proposed guidance to financial institutions warning that the debt collection act also applies to digital forms of communication, including text messaging and social media.

It is important that consumers check their credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com to ensure the debt being reported is what is being collected and to know their rights.

A 2014 report says last year the commission received 204,464 debt collection complaints, up from 202,616 in 2012. Thirty-eight percent involved collectors misrepresenting the type of debt, amount or status; 19.7 percent were failure to identify as a debt collector and 16.6 percent involved repeated calls to third parties.

If you are in a financial crisis and considering filing for bankruptcy, contact an experienced Miami bankruptcy attorney who can advise you of all of your options. As an experienced CPA as well as a proven bankruptcy lawyer, Timothy Kingcade knows how to help clients take full advantage of the bankruptcy laws to protect their assets and get successful results. Since 1996 Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. has been helping people from all walks of life build a better tomorrow. Our attorneys’ help thousands of people every year take advantage of their rights under bankruptcy protection to restart, rebuild and recover. The day you hire our firm, we will contact your creditors to stop the harassment. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at http://www.miamibankruptcy.com.