Debt collector harassment violates the Federal Debt Collection Protection Act. (FDCPA). Here are specific illegal acts that allow you to sue for debt harassment:

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• The use or threat of use of violence or other criminal means to harm the physical person, reputation, or property of any person.

• The use of obscene or profane language or language the natural consequence of which is to abuse the hearer or reader.

• The publication of a list of consumers who allegedly refuse to pay debts, except to a consumer reporting agency.

• The advertisement for sale of any debt to coerce payment of the debt.

• The act of allowing a telephone to ring or engaging any person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any person at the called number.

• The placement of telephone calls without meaningful disclosure of the caller’s identity

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 Congress passed this law to protect you from any type of debt collector harassment. Congress did not attempt to list each example of impermissible harassment. In fact, it included this general definition of harassment in the law: “The use of conduct which is likely to harass, oppress, or abuse a consumer regarding the collection of a debt.” In other words, do you believe that the debt collector was going too far in her efforts to collect?

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