Bank of America ordered to pay couple $1M for harassment

[AndaliteBandit]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/couple-wins...ry?id=27542208

Shit, where were these class action lawsuits when I was growing up? The debt collector phone calls would start everyday at 6AM on the dot, continuing every hour on the hour until 9PM.

[Wing Zero]

My personal favorite is when they call me at work. But that is illegal in my state. So when they start calling me at work I use the same line every time. "Im at work right now and your harassment could end up having me terminated. In this state that is illegal now do you wish to discuss this matter when I am off or would you like to talk to the authorities." Usually they stop bothering me after that.

[AndaliteBandit]

My personal favorite is when they call me at work. But that is illegal in my state. So when they start calling me at work I use the same line every time. "Im at work right now and your harassment could end up having me terminated. In this state that is illegal now do you wish to discuss this matter when I am off or would you like to talk to the authorities." Usually they stop bothering me after that.

I like the automated ones that hang up on the answering machine, gracing you with a couple minutes of dial tone.

[Reeve]

The reality is that beyond damaging your credit score, there's very little they can actually do to you.

[Independent voter]

That's why credit cards have such high rates. Banks aren't losing money on credit cards.

[Tinykong]

I had a debt collector call me 20-30 times a day for an account of a relative of mine. Pissed me off enough that I researched them, found out they were unlicensed, and sued them in small claims court for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in the amount of $5,000 and won a summary judgment.

They refused to pay, so I had to pay $75 for the sheriff to seize their assets. I wish I could have been there in person, would have almost rather had that than the money.

[Heladys]

I had a debt collector call me 20-30 times a day for an account of a relative of mine. Pissed me off enough that I researched them, found out they were unlicensed, and sued them in small claims court for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in the amount of $5,000 and won a summary judgment.

They refused to pay, so I had to pay $75 for the sheriff to seize their assets. I wish I could have been there in person, would have almost rather had that than the money.

I raise a glass to you sir.

[TZK203]

I raise a glass to you sir.

Fuck that.

I raise two glasses for Tinykong.

[cubby]

I had a debt collector call me 20-30 times a day for an account of a relative of mine. Pissed me off enough that I researched them, found out they were unlicensed, and sued them in small claims court for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in the amount of $5,000 and won a summary judgment.

They refused to pay, so I had to pay $75 for the sheriff to seize their assets. I wish I could have been there in person, would have almost rather had that than the money.

Well done sir, well done. /salute

[Uproot]

I had a debt collector call me 20-30 times a day for an account of a relative of mine. Pissed me off enough that I researched them, found out they were unlicensed, and sued them in small claims court for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in the amount of $5,000 and won a summary judgment.

Had a similar situation myself, where the calls were nonstop, and the folks on the other end quite rude. The mere threat of the FDCPA made them stop calling overnight. Won't work in every situation but if the agency bothering you is at all shady in their practices they'll back off immediately.

[Tinykong]

Initially I would just not answer the calls, but after awhile I got annoyed and picked up to ask them to stop calling, at which point they realized an actual person was at that number, so they would call every 15-20 minutes.

Most of those places are violating the act in some form or another, and it's very easy to trick them into breaking the law. Some of the stories on forums are pretty awesome, I recall one guy getting permission to record a call, and then got the collector to say that if he didn't pay the debt, they would have him arrested. Derp.