A consumer has filed a suit against her lender, claiming that her privacy was invaded when the lender continued to harass her. The suit was filed against Santander Consumer USA Inc. in April. The plaintiff alleges that the debt collector violated both the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and committed creditor harassment via telephone.
In the complaint, the consumer claims that the defendant called her several times during the day on her cellphone. The calls were allegedly an attempt to collect money on a debt that the defendant claims that the plaintiff owes. She also states that when she answered her phone, she was greeted with silence or a recorded voice before being connected with a live operator. She adds that not only was her privacy invaded upon, but she was embarrassed and aggravated by the frequent calls.
The plaintiff contends that the defendant violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by threatening her and claiming that she owed a debt that she does not owe. She says that the defendant used unfair collection practices by attempting to collect said debt. She also claims that she did not give the defendant permission to use an automated calling system to make calls to her phone.
The state of Florida, as well as other states, protects consumers from unfair collection processes. When a consumer is bothered by creditor harassment, he or she has the right to consult with a bankruptcy attorney. This lawyer can inform the consumer of his or her rights to sue the creditor for a violation of fair collection practices.
Source: flarecord.com, “Consumer accuses Santander Consumer USA Inc. of telephone harassment“, Noddy A. Fernandez, May 15, 2017