The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the New York City City Customer Security Law Policy 10 and New York State Statute, General Organisation Law, Short Article 29-H, (the "State Statute") all prohibit threatening, harassing and frightening collection treatments. The State Statute prohibits a collection representative from (a) threatening to communicate with your employer prior to that representative acquiring a judgement versus you, (b) interacting with your family or family at such frequency or at such unusual hours as can fairly be expected to be violent or harassing, or (c) replicating any legal or judicial procedure or appearing to be authorized, released or approved by an attorney or the federal government to collect a debt.
If the collection representative sends you a letter demanding you pay without the reuired notification under the federal law regarding your privacy, your rights to dispute the debt an dgiving you the proper 30 days to respond, then the debt collector is instantly responsible to you for any damages plus three times the amount of your damages. Each offense of the State Statute is a separate misdemeanor offense. You can submit charges with the State Chief Law Officer or your County District Attorney and also demand a restraining action versus the collection company to stop it from continuing abuse and harassment.
If you feel mistreated or harassed by a debt collection agency, call that agency and get the name and address of the owner/president. Send your composed complaint, by licensed mail, return receipt, to the owner/president and consist of in your letter that you "think that agency is breaching the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and other state and local laws and that you will (a) file problems with the Attorney general of the United States or the District Attorney's office (subjecting the collection company to misdemeanor charges) and (b) request a limiting action against the debt collector." If the collection company continues to abuse and harrass you, then go on and file 702-780-0429 your complaints and charges.
This article is certainly not all inclusive and is meant only as a quick description of the legal concern presented. Not all cases are alike and it is highly recommended that you seek advice from a lawyer if you have any concerns with respect to any legal matters.
