Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog

If you believe you are the victim of a consumer fraud or scam that is harming many other individuals you should file a report with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC maintains a Consumer Sentinel database which can be used by law enforcement authorities all over the world to fight consumer fraud. Click here if you want to learn more about that database or want to make a complaint with the FTC.

The FTC has this to say about its Consumer Sentinel database:

Your complaints can help us detect patterns of wrong-doing, and lead to investigations and prosecutions. The FTC enters all complaints it receives into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database that is used by thousands of civil and criminal law enforcement authorities worldwide. The FTC does not resolve individual consumer complaints.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them.

If you are a victim of consumer fraud, unfair debt collection practices, or purchased a lemon automobile, rv or boat our Illinois based consumer fraud and class-action private sector lawyers may be able to assist you obtaining redress if the FTC, Illinois Attorney General or other government agency is unable to help you get your money back.

Class action lawsuits our firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to very large consumer recoveries and in addition substantial awards totalling over a million dollars going to national and local consumer rights organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. DiTommaso-Lubin is proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer organizations and law school legal aid clinics obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from corporate misdeeds.

Our Naperville, Waukegan, Wilmette,Wheaton, Oak Brook, and Chicago consumer attorneys provide assistance in consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Chicago area consumer protection lawyers here who can assist in lemon law, tele-marketing fraud, infomercial scams and frauds, unfair debt collection, junk fax, pre-recorded telephone solicitations, and other consumer, consumer fraud or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

One of the best websites to learn about consumer law issues and to find lawyers who specialize in consumer rights issues is the website of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

The website contains numerous links to sections on Auto Fraud, Lemon Law, Predatory Lending Practices, Credit Reporting Problems and Debt Collection Abuse.

Class action lawsuits our firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. DiTommaso-Lubin is proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from corporate misdeeds.

Our Naperville, Wheaton, Oak Brook, and Chicago consumer attorneys provide assistance in consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Chicago area consumer protection lawyers here who can assist in lemon law, unfair debt collection, junk fax, prerecorded telephone solicitations, and other consumer, consumer fraud or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

The National Consumers League's Fraud Center is one of the best informational websites on the internet to learn about consumer rights and protection issues. Informed consumers are best armed to protect themselves from consumer scams and consumer frauds. The website contains sections for Telemarketing Fraud, Internet Fraud, Scams Against Businesses, Scams Against Elderly, Counterfeit Drugs, and a Fraud News section.

DiTommaso-Lubin is a private consumer rights law firm who associates with other law firms around the country that can help you recover funds lost due to fraud against brick and mortar companies in the United States with assets. All too often with many internet and telemarketing frauds this may not be possible as the scam artists may be overseas, hard to locate or without assets.

Class action lawsuits our firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. DiTommaso-Lubin is proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from corporate misdeeds.

Our Naperville, Waukegan, Wilmette, Wheaton, Oak Brook, and Chicago consumer attorneys provide assistance in consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Chicago area consumer protection lawyers here who can assist in lemon law, unfair debt collection, junk fax, prerecorded telephone solicitations, and other consumer, consumer fraud or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

One of the best websites to obtain information about consumer law topics and purchase consumer and lawyer oriented publications and books about consumer rights issues is the website of the National Consumer Law Center.

A particularly well done book offered by the National Consumer Law Center is called Surviving Debt. It is a "how to" book that consumers can use to learn about their rights regarding matters such as unfair debt collection practices. The National Consumer Law Center provides a detailed description of the book.

The National Consumer Law Center describes Surviving Debt as follows:

This new edition contains strategies on:

Dealing with debt collectors
Saving your home or car
Which debts to pay first and common mistakes consumers make that can actually get them into even more trouble
Managing credit card debt
Stopping eviction, lockouts and utility shut-offs
When you should and should not worry about your credit rating
When to refinance
Student loan consolidation options
How to find effective credit counseling agencies
Alternatives to filing bankruptcy and more
And includes a detailed index, and list of helpful websites
You Have Many Important Consumer Rights

If you are having debt problems, you may feel overwhelmed and powerless. During periods of financial hardship, you may not have the resources to pay pressing debts, to meet family needs, and to get necessary legal help. You may feel helpless to fight debt collectors pressing you for payment or threatening to seize your home, car, or other possessions.

In writing this book, we hope to help you even the playing field, and to make the best choices possible despite difficult financial circumstances. We will explain which debts you can ignore for a period of time while you get back on your feet. When you cannot ignore a particular debt without serious consequences, such as foreclosure or repossession, this book sets out helpful options to deal with these problems, both in the short term and the long run.

This book also explains your rights as a consumer. You are not powerless. Many federal and state laws are designed to provide help to people facing financial problems. These include protection against abusive debt collectors, relief from unfair business practices, limits on wage garnishments and seizures of property, and the right to eliminate many obligations in bankruptcy. In most cases, however, you need to know about your rights in order to exercise them. This book attempts both to explain these rights and tell you when and how to utilize them.

Class action lawsuits our firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. DiTommaso-Lubin is proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from corporate misdeeds.

Our Naperville, Aurora, Elgin, Wilmette, Highland Park, Waukegan, Wheaton, Oak Brook, and Chicago consumer attorneys provide assistance in consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Chicago area consumer protection lawyers here who can assist in lemon law, unfair debt collection, junk fax, prerecorded telephone solicitations, and other consumer, consumer fraud or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

We have watched with dismay as report after report rolls in with bad financial news. Just like other Americans, many individuals and families here in the Chicago area are having more trouble making ends meet right now and may be at risk of losing their homes. Because our consumer rights and debt collection abuse prevention lawyers handle consumer litigation in Chicago, Oak Brook, Naperville and other parts of Illinois, we are particularly concerned about unfair and abusive practices by bill collectors, who many people may be hearing from more and more these days. Many consumers don't realize it, but we are actually protected under federal law from some of the worst excesses of collection agencies by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

The FDCPA prohibits abusive and deceptive conduct by companies that collect debts. This covers a wide variety of practices, including misleading statements and outright lies, threats, abusive or foul language, attempts to embarrass the consumer publicly, bypassing the consumer's lawyer and tacking on fees or interest the consumer never agreed to. Under the law, debt collectors may not harass you with repeated unnecessary phone calls, call you names, use a raised voice or curse words, or call you at work after you've explained in writing that your employer does not allow it. If they threaten lawsuits, wage garnishments or other legal actions, those actions must be possible and they must follow through.

In addition, the law requires debt collectors to follow certain rules, including:
• Identifying themselves as debt collectors.
• Explaining that anything you say to them may be used to collect the debt.
• Limit contact with you to between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., your time, unless you agree to more
• Providing information about the original debt, including the name and address of the company you originally owed and a written validation of the debt if you request one.
• Notifying you of your right to dispute the debt within 30 days of receiving written information on it.
• Suing you only in the proper court -- usually, this is either the court where you live or in the area where you originally incurred the debt.

As anyone who has ever interacted with one of these companies knows, violations of these rules and other despicable conduct by debt collectors is sadly common. As consumer lawyers, we have witnessed some outrageous conduct by these companies and their representatives. Fortunately, consumers have the right to sue debt collectors who break the FDCPA outright. Furthermore, the FDCPA is a "strict liability" law, which means you need not prove that the bill collector was careless or had a bad intent in order to collect financial compensation; you only need to prove that it broke the law.

At DiTommaso-Lubin, we are proud of our FDCPA practice and the efforts of our Chicago, Naperville and Oak Brook trial lawyers to stop debt collector abuse. Our FDCPA practice is part of our broader Illinois consumer rights litigation practice. If you believe your rights under this law have been violated in Illinoisor near by states, you are welcome to contact us for help getting fair compensation and stopping the abuse.

Given all of the more recent high-profile financial failures, it might be easy to forget the fall of Bear Stearns, the first investment bank to go down in our current economic downturn. But we were interested to read recently that the firm recently settled charges that it violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a federal law our Chicago, Naperville and Oak Brook debt collection abuse prevention lawyers work with often in our Chicago consumer rights litigation practice. According to the Chicago Tribune, Bear Stearns and its mortgage debt collection subsidiary, EMC Mortgage, settled multiple FDCPA charges with the Federal Trade Commission for $28 million in September, and also agreed to change its loan servicing policies.

As with so much other economic news in 2008, the problem started with subprime and other non-standard mortgages. Bear Stearns was heavily invested in these (by buying them from the original lenders), a choice that is largely blamed for its failure. EMC serviced those mortgages, and according to the FTC, committed multiple violations of the FDCPA in its dealings with mortgage holders. The FTC complaint charged EMC with failing to check into the information provided by the original lenders on the mortgages, which led to incorrect charges and incorrect reports to credit bureaus that hurt the homeowners' credit. EMC was also charged with:
• Charging fees homeowners never authorized, including a $500 fee for "loan modification"
• Failing to report to the credit reporting agencies that homeowners disputed the incorrect debts
• Fabricating "property inspections" to gain access to private homes

All of these are violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which was designed to protect consumers from just this kind of unfair and predatory lending. As consumer attorneys, we applaud the FTC for protecting homeowners' rights and hope this settlement helps more of them keep their homes under realistic terms.

The FDCPA applies to any type of debt collector -- not just mortgage servicing companies. It prohibits these and other types of lies and deception, as well as harassment, foul language and threats by collection agencies. If you are a victim of these unfair and abusive practices, the law allows you to sue the collection agency for damages and attorneys' fees. DiTommaso-Lubin handles a variety of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuits for clients in Chicago, Naperville, Oak Brook and throughout Illinois. If you believe you're a victim of harassment, incorrect charges or outright lies by a mortgage company or any other debt collector and you want to fight back, please contact our firm to learn more about how we can protect your rights.

With our economy on the scids, debt collection abuse is on the rise. You can contact our Chicago area debt collection abuse prevention attorneys for a free consultation to advise you if you can stop debt collection abuse by filing suit. You can click here to see a copy of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the federal law which prohibits debt collection abuse.

The FTC offers the following advice on preventing Debt Collector Harassment:

Fair Debt Collection

If you use credit cards, owe money on a personal loan, or are paying on a home mortgage, you are a "debtor." If you fall behind in repaying your creditors, or an error is made on your accounts, you may be contacted by a "debt collector."
You should know that in either situation, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act requires that debt collectors treat you fairly and prohibits certain methods of debt collection. Of course, the law does not erase any legitimate debt you owe.
This brochure answers commonly asked questions about your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

What debts are covered?

Personal, family, and household debts are covered under the Act. This includes money owed for the purchase of an automobile, for medical care, or for charge accounts.

Who is a debt collector?

A debt collector is any person who regularly collects debts owed to others. This includes attorneys who collect debts on a regular basis.

How may a debt collector contact you?

A collector may contact you in person, by mail, telephone, telegram, or fax. However, a debt collector may not contact you at inconvenient times or places, such as before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., unless you agree. A debt collector also may not contact you at work if the collector knows that your employer disapproves of such contacts.

Can you stop a debt collector from contacting you?

You can stop a debt collector from contacting you by writing a letter to the collector telling them to stop. Once the collector receives your letter, they may not contact you again except to say there will be no further contact or to notify you that the debt collector or the creditor intends to take some specific action. Please note, however, that sending such a letter to a collector does not make the debt go away if you actually owe it. You could still be sued by the debt collector or your original creditor.

May a debt collector contact anyone else about your debt?

If you have an attorney, the debt collector must contact the attorney, rather than you. If you do not have an attorney, a collector may contact other people, but only to find out where you live, what your phone number is, and where you work. Collectors usually are prohibited from contacting such third parties more than once. In most cases, the collector may not tell anyone other than you and your attorney that you owe money.

What must the debt collector tell you about the debt?

Within five days after you are first contacted, the collector must send you a written notice telling you the amount of money you owe; the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money; and what action to take if you believe you do not owe the money.
May a debt collector continue to contact you if you believe you do not owe money?
A collector may not contact you if, within 30 days after you receive the written notice, you send the collection agency a letter stating you do not owe money. However, a collector can renew collection activities if you are sent proof of the debt, such as a copy of a bill for the amount owed.

What types of debt collection practices are prohibited?

Harassment. Debt collectors may not harass, oppress, or abuse you or any third parties they contact. For example, debt collectors may not:
• use threats of violence or harm;
• publish a list of consumers who refuse to pay their debts (except to a credit bureau);
• use obscene or profane language; or repeatedly use the telephone to annoy someone

False statements. Debt collectors may not use any false or misleading statements when collecting a debt. For example, debt collectors may not:
• falsely imply that they are attorneys or government representatives;
• falsely imply that you have committed a crime;
• falsely represent that they operate or work for a credit bureau;
• misrepresent the amount of your debt;
• indicate that papers being sent to you are legal forms when they are not; or
• indicate that papers being sent to you are not legal forms when they are.

Debt collectors also may not state that:
• you will be arrested if you do not pay your debt;
• they will seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages, unless the collection agency or creditor intends to do so, and it is legal to do so; or
• actions, such as a lawsuit, will be taken against you, when such action legally may not be taken, or when they do not intend to take such action.

Debt collectors may not:
• give false credit information about you to anyone, including a credit bureau;
• send you anything that looks like an official document from a court or government agency when it is not; or
• use a false name.

Unfair practices. Debt collectors may not engage in unfair practices when they try to collect a debt. For example, collectors may not:
• collect any amount greater than your debt, unless your state law permits such a charge;
• deposit a post-dated check prematurely;
• use deception to make you accept collect calls or pay for telegrams;
• take or threaten to take your property unless this can be done legally; or
• contact you by postcard.

What control do you have over payment of debts?

If you owe more than one debt, any payment you make must be applied to the debt you indicate. A debt collector may not apply a payment to any debt you believe you do not owe.
What can you do if you believe a debt collector violated the law?
You have the right to sue a collector in a state or federal court within one year from the date the law was violated. If you win, you may recover money for the damages you suffered plus an additional amount up to $1,000. Court costs and attorney' s fees also can be recovered. A group of people also may sue a debt collector and recover money for damages up to $500,000, or one percent of the collector' s net worth, whichever is less.

Where can you report a debt collector for an alleged violation?

Report any problems you have with a debt collector to your state Attorney General's office and the Federal Trade Commission. Many states have their own debt collection laws, and your Attorney General' s office can help you determine your rights.

Our Chicago class action and consumer lawyers may also be able to help you if you have been the victim of any of the improper debt collection practices described by the FTC. At Nationwide Consumer Rights our Chicago, Naperville, Aurora, Waukegan and Joliet consumer rights and class-action attorneys file individual and class-action lawsuits against debt collectors that violate your rights. If you have been the victim of debt collection abuse, contact us by phone, email or fax for a free consultation.

Are you a consumer with questions or concerns related to potential fraud and do not know what government agency to contact? The Chicago Federal Reserve Bank provides a web page that allows you to link to government agencies that may help you. The web page has links to federal and state banking agencies, federal and state securities agencies, and state insurance agencies located in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin. You can also link to various useful financial , insurance, and banking tools, and to lists of financial services regulators, and consumer complaint filing information. Click here to link to the Chicago Federal Reserve Fraud web page.

If you need legal assistance in pursuing a civil lawsuit because government regulators cannot help you in recovering money lost due to fraud, our private sector lawyers can assist you by clicking here to contact us.

The National Association of Consumer Advocates provides the following advice about Debt Collector Abuse:

Debt Collection Abuse (FDCPA)

In spite of federal and state legislation, debt collectors continue to abuse consumers in order to unfairly pressure them into paying debts. These abuse tactics are often intended to scare or intimidate consumers, sometime with threats of violence or arrest. Other debt collectors will try to pile on illegal interest or fees to make the debt seem larger that it actually is. In some instances, these debts are time-barred, discharged in bankruptcy, or not owed for other reasons.

The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (FDCPA) bars all forms of unfair, abusive and deceptive collection practices. While the statute provides a laundry list of potential violations, this list is not exclusive. The statute also provides a general prohibition on any form of deception, abuse, or unfair treatment.

Here's a general rule of thumb you can use to interpret this: If your mother would be upset about you treating other people the way that you were treated by the debt collector, then the conduct probably violates the FDCPA.

What Are My Rights?
Federal and state laws give you rights against bill collector harassment. Collection agencies and debt collectors are required to provide you with a notice of your rights within 5 days of the first communication with you. Below are all listed in section 1692c of the FDCPA:

You have the absolute right to demand that a debt collector cease communication. You just have to write a letter setting forth your demand. If you notify the collector that you refuse to pay the debt, that notice also serves as a cease communications notice. In either event, the debt collector may no longer communicate with you except to notify you that he is exercising specific rights.

Debt collectors are prohibited from collecting debts that are not owed. You have the right to demand that the debt collector prove you owe the money. This process is known as "validation" of the debt. Debt collectors must notify you of this right, and if you request validation in writing within 30 days of receiving your notice of rights, the debt collector must either validate the debt to you or cease collection efforts.

What Should I Do?
You should gather and organize all the information you can about the debt, as well as the collection efforts of any past or current collectors who contacted you. The past correspondence provides important information about the kinds of charges and interest that have been added to the debt.

If you have copies of your credit reports, you will need those also. The credit reports also contain historic information about the debt, including the time it was incurred, when it was defaulted, and who may have collected it previously

If you have any notes about the debt or any taped conversations, threatening letters, or any communication whatsoever with the collector, these can be extremely valuable in reconstructing the collection efforts and any abuse. Whenever you are contacted by a collector, you should note the date, time, person you are speaking to and the content of the call including any abusive language or threats. If at all possible, you should keep these notes together in one central spot.

If you have any witnesses who can corroborate that you were abused, you should get a brief statement from that witness in their own words. These statements will help to refresh the witnesses' memories when you get to trial and provide information to your attorney.

We assist Chicago area consumers in pursuing lawsuits for Debt Collector Abuse. Statutory damages of up to $1000 plus attorneys fees and costs are available under the FDCPA. Emotional distress and actual damages can be recovered as well. For more information about our law firm. Go to our website by clicking here. If you want to provide us with information about a potential lawsuit so we can contact you click here.

Illegal debt collection practices exposed:

The Federal Trade Commission's ("FTC") website summarizes illegal debt collection practices. Below is the summary from the site:

Fair Debt Collection If you use credit cards, owe money on a personal loan, or are paying on a home mortgage, you are a "debtor." If you fall behind in repaying your creditors, or an error is made on your accounts, you may be contacted by a "debt collector."

You should know that in either situation, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act requires that debt collectors treat you fairly and prohibits certain methods of debt collection. Of course, the law does not erase any legitimate debt you owe.

What debts are covered?
Personal, family, and household debts are covered under the Act. This includes money owed for the purchase of an automobile, for medical care, or for charge accounts.

Who is a debt collector?
A debt collector is any person who regularly collects debts owed to others. This includes attorneys who collect debts on a regular basis.

How may a debt collector contact you?
A collector may contact you in person, by mail, telephone, telegram, or fax. However, a debt collector may not contact you at inconvenient times or places, such as before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., unless you agree. A debt collector also may not contact you at work if the collector knows that your employer disapproves of such contacts.

Can you stop a debt collector from contacting you?
You can stop a debt collector from contacting you by writing a letter to the collector telling them to stop. Once the collector receives your letter, they may not contact you again except to say there will be no further contact or to notify you that the debt collector or the creditor intends to take some specific action. Please note, however, that sending such a letter to a collector does not make the debt go away if you actually owe it. You could still be sued by the debt collector or your original creditor.

May a debt collector contact anyone else about your debt?
If you have an attorney, the debt collector must contact the attorney, rather than you. If you do not have an attorney, a collector may contact other people, but only to find out where you live, what your phone number is, and where you work. Collectors usually are prohibited from contacting such third parties more than once. In most cases, the collector may not tell anyone other than you and your attorney that you owe money.

What must the debt collector tell you about the debt?
Within five days after you are first contacted, the collector must send you a written notice telling you the amount of money you owe; the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money; and what action to take if you believe you do not owe the money.

May a debt collector continue to contact you if you believe you do not owe money?
A collector may not contact you if, within 30 days after you receive the written notice, you send the collection agency a letter stating you do not owe money. However, a collector can renew collection activities if you are sent proof of the debt, such as a copy of a bill for the amount owed.

What types of debt collection practices are prohibited?
Harassment. Debt collectors may not harass, oppress, or abuse you or any third parties they contact. For example, debt collectors may not:

use threats of violence or harm;
publish a list of consumers who refuse to pay their debts (except to a credit bureau);
use obscene or profane language; or repeatedly use the telephone to annoy someone.
False statements. Debt collectors may not use any false or misleading statements when collecting a debt. For example, debt collectors may not:

falsely imply that they are attorneys or government representatives;
falsely imply that you have committed a crime;
falsely represent that they operate or work for a credit bureau;
misrepresent the amount of your debt;
indicate that papers being sent to you are legal forms when they are not; or
indicate that papers being sent to you are not legal forms when they are.
Debt collectors also may not state that:
you will be arrested if you do not pay your debt;
they will seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages, unless the collection agency or creditor intends to do so, and it is legal to do so; or
actions, such as a lawsuit, will be taken against you, when such action legally may not be taken, or when they do not intend to take such action.
Debt collectors may not:
give false credit information about you to anyone, including a credit bureau;
send you anything that looks like an official document from a court or government agency when it is not; or
use a false name.
Unfair practices. Debt collectors may not engage in unfair practices when they try to collect a debt. For example, collectors may not:

collect any amount greater than your debt, unless your state law permits such a charge;
deposit a post-dated check prematurely;
use deception to make you accept collect calls or pay for telegrams;
take or threaten to take your property unless this can be done legally; or
contact you by postcard.
What control do you have over payment of debts?
If you owe more than one debt, any payment you make must be applied to the debt you indicate. A debt collector may not apply a payment to any debt you believe you do not owe.

What can you do if you believe a debt collector violated the law?
You have the right to sue a collector in a state or federal court within one year from the date the law was violated. If you win, you may recover money for the damages you suffered plus an additional amount up to $1,000. Court costs and attorney' s fees also can be recovered. A group of people also may sue a debt collector and recover money for damages up to $500,000, or one percent of the collector' s net worth, whichever is less.

Here is the link to the FTC's site.

By contacting an experienced debt collection abuse prevention lawyer at www.NationwideConsumerRights.com you can put a stop to the evil of illegal debt collection practices and recover damages under the FDCPA if you have a valid claim. Contact us by clicking here.

Judge Dow of the Federal Court for the Northern District of Illinois dismissed without prejudice a bona fide error defense in a putative Fair Debt Collection Act class-action for failure to plead facts akin to the "first paragraph in any newspaper story." The Court ruled that a bona fide error defense raises a claim of mistake, and therefore must be pled with factual particularity under Rule 9.

The Court held:

Notwithstanding the "disfavored" status of motions to strike and the "liberal pleading standard" in Fed. R. Civ. P. 8, the Court concludes that the motion is well taken. Because the defense at issue deals with an alleged "mistake" -- a "bona fide error" in the statutory parlance -- Defendant is obligated to comply with both Fed. R. Civ. P. 8 and 9(b). The standard under Rule 9(b) requires parties to state the circumstances of a mistake with "particularity." As the Seventh Circuit has explained, Rule 9(b) mandates that parties allege at the pleading stage "the who, what, when, where, and how of the mistake." GE Capital Corp. v. Lease Resolution Corp., 128 F.3d 1074, 1078 (7th Cir. 1997). Defendant correctly points out that Rule 9(b) permits pleaders to allege matters such as intent and knowledge in a more general manner. However, the remaining factual details of an alleged mistake -- for example, who made the mistake and when and how it occurred -- must be set out with "particularity" in the pleading. Although Defendant has added some detail to its original effort to plead its affirmative defense, there still is work to do before the Court reasonably can conclude that Defendant has complied with its obligation to provide "the first paragraph of any newspaper story" (GE Capital Corp., 128 F.3d at 1078) setting forth with particularity Defendant's version of the circumstances supporting the defense, as Rule 9(b) and the Seventh Circuit case law require.

To read the full opinion click here Konewko vs. Dickler, Kahn, Slowikowski & Zavell, Ltd.

To learn more about our Chicago and Oak Brook based class action attorneys click here.