Harassment is defined by a wide spectrum of offensive behavior. When the term is used in a legal sense it refers to behaviors that are found threatening or disturbing, and beyond those that are sanctioned by society. OK, even with this definition it can still be hard to judge what behavior is considered harassing; subjectively people view things very differently.

 

Lets see how the FDCPA defines harassment:

  

  1. Contacting any third party more than once unless the third party requests that they do so, or unless they reasonably believe that the third party gave them incorrect or incomplete information and now has further information;

  2. Harassing third parties with abusive or obscene language or repeated phone calls;

  3. Communicating with a consumer to collect on a delinquent debt: (1) at a time or place the consumer has said is inconvenient; (2) at the consumer’s place of employment if the consumer has already stated that the employer prohibits personal phone calls; and (3) if the consumer is represented by an attorney with respect to the debt;

  4. Falsely representing to consumers the amount or status of a debt or threatening to take action against a consumer that they do not intend to take or that is illegal to take;

  5. Collecting any amount other than the amount expressly stated in the agreement creating the debt; and

  6. Applying a consumer’s payment in a way that the consumer has not directed.

 

The TRUTH is that not all collectors follow these laws and should be punished when they don’t. Admittedly, in my younger years I broke some of these knowingly and others out of ignorance. Most agencies are now more averse to complaints and have many controls in place to stop them. However, some people consider simply leaving a voicemail more than once as harassment while it is not. My advice is that if you feel you are being harassed you need to either A) Speak to a manager or B) Write a letter of Cease and Desist.  These are your rights; it is best to know them.

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