Yes.  In the U.S. District for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, a federal class action lawsuit was filed against F.H. Cann and Associates, Inc. (“F.H. Cann and Associates”) – which is a debt collector – for alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”).  The docket number for the case was Case No. 2:17-cv-00496.

The Plaintiff alleged that F.H. Cann and Associates sent out collection notices that display that F.H. Cann and Associates violated the Plaintiff’s rights under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

The Plaintiff alleged that F.H. Cann and Associates sent her a collection notice where within it F.H. Cann and Associates demanded that Plaintiff pay F.H. Cann and Associates approximately more than $600 in “collection costs”.

The Plaintiff alleged that this action by F.H. Cann and Associates would be prohibited pursuant to Wisconsin law, even if the fee was separately negotiated.  The Plaintiff alleged that F.H. Cann and Associates was engaged in an unfair and unconscionable method of debt collection in violation of the FDCPA, and that F.H. Cann and Associates used false representation or deceptive means to attempt to collect the debt.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is a law that regulates the actions of debt collectors.

The Plaintiff alleged that upon her information and belief, the approximately $602.60 that F.H. Cann. and Associates was trying to collect from Plaintiff in collection costs as a fee far exceeded both the actual costs that F.H. Cann and Associates incurred for collection costs from Plaintiff, and the average cost that F.H. Cann and Associates generally incurred for similar attempts to secure payments or information from other borrowers.

The Plaintiff alleged that all that F.H. Cann and Associates had done up to the point in time that the lawsuit was filed against F.H. Cann and Associates by Plaintiff and her counsel was to mail computer-generated form letters to Plaintiff, and to possibly place some telephone calls to Plaintiff.

What is the FDCPA and Who Does it Protect Consumers Against?

If a debt collector is violating a consumer’s rights under the FDCPA, said consumer can sue the debt collector for damages.  If a consumer is successful in court against a debt collection agency it could entitle the consumer to statutory damages of up to $1,000.00.  The consumer can also receive actual damages to compensate them for any harm or loss that they have suffered as a result of the debt collector’s actions, and the debt collection company could also have to pay for the consumer’s legal fees and costs.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) is a federal statute, 15 U.S.C. § 1692, et seq. It was enacted by The United States Congress in 1978. There were multiple Congressional findings and declared purposes that led to why Congress enacted the statute.

Congress noticed that there was a lot of evidence displaying the use of abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors, and that this contributed to a great number of personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs, and also to invasions of individual privacy.

Congress wanted to stop this.  It stated that the existing laws and procedures to redress those injuries – from before Congress created the FDCPA – were not adequate to protect consumers, so Congress needed to enact something better than what it currently had.  That is why it created the FDCPA.

Congress also stated that it felt that there were other things that debt collectors could do to collect debts rather than misrepresenting things and doing abusive things in the course of debt collection.

Congress stated that the purposes of the FDCPA is to eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors; to ensure that debt collectors who do not commit illegal practices are not competitively disadvantaged; and to promote consistent State action to protect consumers from being victimized by abusive debt collection acts by debt collectors.

When a Debt Collector Cannot Try to Contact A Person In An Attempt to Collect A Debt

A debt collector cannot call a consumer before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.

A debt collector cannot call a consumer after the consumer has told them to stop calling the consumer and that the calls harass and/or annoy the consumer.

A debt collector cannot call a consumer if the debt collector has already made seven calls to the consumer in any rolling seven-day period of time.

A debt collector cannot call a consumer at the consumer’s workplace if the consumer has told the debt collector that continued calls to the consumer’s workplace inconvenience the consumer, and/or are prohibited by the consumer’s employer.

A debt collector cannot call a consumer at times and/or time periods when the consumer has already told them that the calls would inconvenience the consumer.

A debt collector cannot contact a consumer via a method of contact – whether it be via phone, email, text message, or fax, etc. – that the consumer has already told the debt collector is unwanted.

What A Consumer Can Do if A Debt Collector is Violating Their Rights

No one should be getting harassed, lied to, or treated in an unfair or deceptive manner by a debt collector.

If a debt collector is violating a consumer’s rights under the FDCPA, the consumer can sue them for damages.  If a consumer is successful in court, the consumer could be entitled to statutory damages of up to $1,000.00.  The consumer could also receive actual damages to compensate the consumer for any harm or loss that the consumer suffered as a result of the debt collector’s actions.  The debt collector could also have to pay for the consumer’s legal fees and costs.