As a bankruptcy attorney, I routinely meet with clients concerned about creditor harrasment. They’re getting called at work, they’re getting called at home, their relatives are even getting phone calls. Needless to say, by the time they get to my office, they’re fed up. As we discuss potential solutions, two important topics invariably arise: (1) the Automatic Stay in bankruptcy and (2) the Fair Debt collections Practices Act. You see, federal law provides consumers with powerful weapons in fighting back against incessant and unfair collection tactics. You may validly owe a debt, but federal law limits the tactics debt collectors can resort to while attempting to collect.

As you can imagine, brass knuckle tactics are obviously outside the pale and would likely be punishable under criminal laws. Let’s assume that you’re not dealing with a member of Gotti’s crew but rather a large, bureaucratic debt collector with an army of cubicle soldiers ready willing and able to make your phones ring off the hook. What to do? Well first of all, if you owe try to pay. Absent that understand that the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA)prohibits debt collectors from contacting you late at night, early in the morning, at work if the boss has objected or after you have notified them that you are represented by an attorney regarding that specific debt. For example, if you’ve retained a bankruptcy attorney and have notified the debt collector, you can sue the company for damages if they contact you in the future. In order for the statute to apply, you must be a consumer being pursued by a debt collector and the debt must be personal in nature. Collection efforts on business debts are not regulated by the FDCPA.

In addition, the filing of a bankruptcy case invokes what is called the Automatic Stay. The minute your bankruptcy case is filed, creditors are absolutely prohibited from contacting you for any reason. Many of my clients are happier to learn that their phones will stop ringing than they are about getting out from under debt that has gotten out of control. For the purposes of this post, the important thing to understand about the automatic stay is that it STOPS CREDIT COLLECTION ACTIONS, including phone calls and foreclosure actions. National Bankruptcy Forum contributor John Colwell wrote an excellent post that provides greater detail about automatic stay protection. To read the full article click here.

If you have been the victim of creditor harrassment and are looking for  a way to make it stop, consider consulting a knowledgable consumer attorney to discuss your options under federal law.