California Creditor Harassment Law
A San Jose bankruptcy attorney discusses California Creditor Harassment Law
Creditors can be annoying. They can often be very mean. They can also be silenced…but the means of doing so requires an understanding of California creditor harassment law. There is a national version of such a law and a state version. The California creditor harassment law is known as the Rosenthal Act; it is a local variation of the National Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. Both are very similar. The California creditor harassment law (Rosenthal) is codified in the California Civil Code at Section 1788.
The California creditor harassment law says specifically that creditors cannot use or threaten physical violence; creditors cannot say or imply that failure to pay a debt is criminal (except for the extreme case where it would be true, such as if you committed fraud, for instance; but not paying a typical debt is in no way criminal); creditors cannot be obscene or profane or refuse to tell you who they are collecting on behalf of (i.e., which credit company is their client); they cannot repeatedly call you just to make your phone ring to annoy you; they cannot pretend to be an attorney; they cannot do lots of things. The law is there to help you. There are certain things you can do to avail yourself of the benefits of the California creditor harassment law, although much of the inappropriate conduct is always now in effect, whether you proactively take the steps outlined or not. Of course, the two best ways to avoid implication of the California creditor harassment law are to pay your debts in full (which is, frankly, impossible) or retain counsel. The California creditor harassment law and its national companion (the FFDCPA) provide for an attorney to substitute for you, such that all calls that might go to you, go to your lawyer instead. Of course, the lawyer will wisely invoke the elements of the California creditor harassment law and demand that the creditor discontinue contact. This should provide you significant relief…and the freedom to start answering your phone again.
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