Creditor Harassment and Credit Reporting

State and federal laws protect both consumers and borrowers of consumer credit from unfair and illegal practices. If you feel you may have been unfairly treated by creditors our law offices may be to help you.

Illegal Bill Collection and Creditor Harassment

The Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (FDCPA) provides consumers with protection and relief from harassing, deceptive and abusive debt collection practices in person, over the phone or in writing. Debtors who violate the FDCPA can be sued for damages and fees accordingly. These basic collection actions are illegal:

• Disclosing your debt to third parties such as relatives or co-workers
• Communicating through the use of profane or abusive language
• Falsely reporting or threatening to falsely report information on a credit report
• Calling repeatedly in a harassing manner or calling outside of the hours of 8am and 9pm
• Continuing to contact you after receiving a written request to stop

Correcting Your Credit Report

There are three major credit-reporting companies: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. They are all required to provide accurate information to their users. Oftentimes, errors can occur that negatively affect your credit score — errors that can easily be corrected. The following are common credit-reporting errors:

• Inaccurate credit limits
• Paid or current debts reflecting as delinquent
• Identity theft or unauthorized access
• Missing accounts or duplicate information
• Incorrect basic information

This information affects more than your loan and interest rate eligibility; your credit report can damage current or potential employment opportunities. Because of this, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) an attorney can have this misinformation promptly corrected. In some cases, monetary compensation can be obtained for financial harm suffered due to these errors.