Irvine Creditor Harassment Bankruptcy Lawyer
Creditors are not always polite when it comes to overdue bills. They can be obnoxious, rude, or downright threatening. The situation gets even worse when the original creditor – the hospital, lender, or credit card company – turns over the debt to a collection agency. Companies that make their living doing nothing other than going after debt are much more aggressive, and their tactics frequently get uncomfortably close to crossing the line and sometimes do cross the line into illegal conduct.
Laws exist to protect consumers from unfair debt collection practices, but making creditors stop their harassing conduct under these laws requires taking them on in court in a lengthy, stressful, and expensive process. Alternatively, filing for bankruptcy results in an immediate and total stop to all bill collection activities, whether they are harassing or not. Bankruptcy does not just stop creditor harassment but also quickly moves you through a process that eliminates the debt altogether. Learn below how bankruptcy handles creditor harassment, and call The Law Office of Charles A. May for advice and assistance from a dedicated Irvine creditor harassment bankruptcy lawyer.
Creditor Harassment Is Illegal
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law that keeps bill collectors from engaging in a variety of harassing, abusive, threatening or fraudulent conduct in their attempts to collect a debt. Some of the activities forbidden under the FDCPA include:
- Calling a debtor before eight in the morning or after nine at night
- Calling the debtor at work after being informed they are not allowed to take calls at work
- Contacting the debtor’s family, friends, employer or others about the debt
- Using profane, threatening or abusive language with the debtor
- Calling the debtor repeatedly in an attempt to harass, annoy or frighten them
- Giving false or misleading information
- Pretending to be a lawyer or law enforcement officer
- Threatening to take legal action or seize the debtor’s property without intending to do so
California has its own law prohibiting unfair debt collection practices – the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The California law is broader than the federal law in many ways, most notably in that it prohibits harassing conduct by the original creditor and not just bill collectors and debt buyers.
Bankruptcy Stops Creditor Harassment
One of the most valuable, powerful and popular features of a bankruptcy filing is the automatic stay. Under the automatic stay, as soon as you file for bankruptcy, your creditors must cease all collection activities, including making incessant phone calls, sending threatening letters, showing up at your work, and engaging in other harassing or intimidating conduct. The automatic stay successfully gets creditors and bill collectors off your back while we work to get the underlying debt discharged in Chapter 7 or put into a payment plan in Chapter 13.
Once a creditor is notified about the bankruptcy, not only must they stop their collections, but they should also stop contacting you at all and contact your attorney instead. This is a valuable feature of having an attorney represent you in your bankruptcy – you will not have to deal with creditors or bill collectors at all because that becomes your lawyer’s job, not yours.
Stop Creditor Harassment in Southern California Now With the Help of Your Irvine Bankruptcy Lawyer
The Law Office of Charles A. May stands ready to support you and counsel you on how best to handle burdensome debt and creditor harassment. Our Irvine bankruptcy law firm serves clients in Orange County, Los Angeles and across Southern California. We offer a free initial consultation to learn about you, discuss your needs and goals, and let you know how we can help. Call our Irvine bankruptcy lawyer today to stop creditor harassment and get on the path to a fresh start financially.
