Have you been abused or harassed by creditors?
It is the legal right of creditors to collect debts owed to them. Harassing or threatening those who owe these debts is not legal. In today’s economy millions of people have fallen behind on paying their bills because of job loss, pay cuts, financial emergencies or overuse of available credit. Creditors do not have the right to abuse these individuals and can be silenced.
Some common forms of creditor abuse are:
- Collectors calling without identifying themselves
- Using obscene language, insults or racial slurs in calls or on a voicemail
- Threatening harm or violence
- Pretending to be an attorney or court employee
- Using more than one collection company to collect a debt
- Calling before 8 AM and after 9 PM
- Contacting a person frequently and repeatedly
- Disregarding the fact that the so called debtor does not actually owe the money
- Contacting family members or friends of the debtor to collect the debt
- Calling the debtor at work, after requests have been made not to do so
- Threatening arrest if the debt is not paid
Credit Reporting Issues
Credit Reports are often full of damaging inaccuracies.
Studies show that inaccurate credit reports plague the credit industry.
Indeed, 46%–70% of all credit reports contain inaccurate information.
Here are some of the most common and egregious errors involving credit reports:
Mixed or Merged Credit Reports
This error occurs when a credit reporting agency mistakenly merges one person’s credit information with another person’s credit information.
Out of Date Entries on Credit Reports
Negative information, such as, delinquencies, bankruptcies, charge-offs loan defaults, etc., must be taken off a person’s credit report after a certain amount of time. However, often debt collectors will “re-age” the debt to make it appear that it is not very old. This conduct is illegal.
Background Screening & the Law
Class action lawsuits against employers for violating the law have been on the rise. The most common violation of the law involves a situation in which a prospective employer accesses a person’s credit reports without express written authorization.
Unauthorized Review of a Person’s Credit Reports
Creditors and debt collectors will often access a person’s credit report without a legal purpose under the law. We file lawsuits to protect our client’s private and confidential credit information from entities that have no reason for accessing these credit reports.
fair debt collection practices act
The FDCPA is the federal Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. It protects debtors against harassment by creditors and collection agencies spelling out what collection agents may and may not do. If you are being called incessantly, spoken to rudely or subjected to other abusive collection tactics, you are urged to contact us for relief under the FDCPA.
Forbidden Collection Practices
The FDCPA prohibits a variety of collection practices. These include calling late at night or early in the morning, speaking rudely, saying they are a lawyer when they are not, making threats to sue or put you in jail, talking to your neighbors, co-workers or boss about your debt situation or putting a notice in the newspaper as to your failures to pay. Furthermore once you notify a collection agency or creditor that you have an attorney, they must communicate through the attorney. If you write them that you no longer wish to speak them, they must also stop communication except to provide important new information.
Take Action with the FDCPA
Debt collectors commonly prey on debtors as easy targets for harassment. We stop the creditor or collection agency and confront them with their violations of the FDCPA. We insist they halt any contact with the client and direct any future communications to us. Where their conduct has been outrageous, we also sue the creditor for damages on our client’s behalf.
This action will usually stop the abuse. If they persist however, we can seek a court injunction against their behavior. Of course underlying a creditor harassment situation is usually debt problem. We review the client’s financial situation, advise the client on options to become debt-free and find out what the client wants to do. We then proceed to assist.
FRAUDELENT BANK TRANSFER
Your Rights Under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA)
Federal law limits your responsibility for unauthorized electronic transfers if you report them quickly. But many banks ignore the law, blame you, or delay your refund.
We help clients enforce their rights when banks:
- Say you authorized a transaction you didn’t
- Claim it’s a “scam”, they don’t cover
- Refuse to refund hacked debit card charges
- Complete a transaction that you didn’t authorize.
Don’t let your bank break the law.
Call (508) 588-7300 for a free case review. We represent consumers in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Louisiana who lost money due to:
- Unauthorized bank transfers – sometimes through Zelle, Venmo, or Cash App transfers
- Stolen or hacked debit cards
- Fraudulent ACH withdrawals or bank transfers
- Account takeovers from identity theft
We represent clients throughout:
- Massachusetts: Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Lowell, Brockton, Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket
- Wisconsin: Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Racine, Kenosha, Waukesha, Appleton
- Rhode Island: Providence, Warwick, Cranston, Pawtucket, Newport
- Connecticut: New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford, Danbury, Stamford, Waterbury
- Louisiana: New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Metairie, Lafayette
Remote consultations available – no office visit required.
Don’t Let Your Bank Ignore the Law
Every day you wait makes your case harder. Under EFTA, you have strict deadlines to act. In many cases, you must report unauthorized charges within 60 days of your bank statement.
Your Legal Rights Under EFTA (Regulation E)
Federal law says banks must:
- Investigate unauthorized transactions promptly
- Limit your liability
- Provisionally credit your account during the investigation
- Give you written results within 45 days
If they didn’t? That’s a potential violation of federal law — and you may be entitled to:
- A full refund of your stolen funds
- Statutory damages under the EFTA
- Attorneys’ fees and costs (paid by the bank if you win)
Contact Shield Law today to best understand your options.