Debt collection lawsuit investigation: American Express, Wells Fargo, Discover, Comenity, Navient, and others

Debt collection calls: Who’s affected?

Do you receive harassing debt collection calls from American Express, Wells Fargo, Discover, Comenity, student-loan servicer Navient or other financial institutions? If you live in California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina or Texas, you may be entitled to seek compensation.

If you are tormented by relentless calls from these financial institutions, help may be at hand. Residents of California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas are battling the barrage to force institutions to follow federal and state debt collection laws!

You may seek legal help even if the debt-collection calls aren’t meant for you. How many times do you have to say that the person they are looking for doesn’t live here? Or how long before they believe you?

Who called you?

Consumers who received unlawful debt collection calls from from the following institutions may be eligible to join a debt collection call lawsuit investigation:

• American Express
• Wells Fargo
• Discover
• Comenity
• Navient (student loans)

Debt collection laws by state

Debt collection laws vary by state, but federal law does not permit debt collectors to contact you directly “if a debt collector knows that an attorney is representing you about the debt… (and) knows, or can easily find out, the name and contact information of your attorney.”

California

California debt collection laws include strict debt-collection regulations that prohibit deceptive behaviors including calls that harass or abuse consumers to collect a debt, or calls that make false or misleading statements to collect a debt. Calls in California must be made between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., and debt collectors may not contact family, neighbors or others about a debt without adhering to specific qualifications.

Connecticut

Connecticut debt collection laws protect residents from unlawful debt-collection practices. Creditors and debt collectors are prohibited from claiming they are government representatives, from saying you have committed a crime, and from using the phone to annoy or harass you. 

Florida

Florida debt collection laws protect consumers by prohibiting misleading or harassing behaviors, including calling with such frequency that it is “reasonably considered” harassment. Calling a debtor’s work if they know the employer doesn’t approve, continuing to contact a consumer after being told to stop calling, and calling after being informed that the consumer does not owe the debt in question are all violations.

Georgia

Georgia debt collection laws allow debt collectors to contact other people to find out where you live or work. They are not permitted to call you at unreasonable places or times, or to contact you at work if they know your employer disapproves of personal calls. They may not lie to you in any way.

Massachusetts 

Massachusetts debt collection laws prohibit a number of harassing or deceptive debt-collection call practices including calling more than twice in a seven-day period to a personal number or more than twice in a 30-day period to a non-home number such as a place of work. Massachusetts also prohibits calls outside of normal waking hours and requires callers to identify themselves.

Michigan

Michigan debt collection laws prohibit  debt collectors from calling before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., unless you give them consent. Calls to your workplace are also prohibited if you have notified them verbally or in writing not to do so. To halt such calls, it is recommended to inform collectors by phone, then confirm in writing via certified mail. Retain the receipt; report any violations promptly for resolution.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania’s Fair Credit Extension Uniformity Act prohibits unfair and deceptive acts by creditors and debt collectors, including calling a consumer at unusual places, calling a consumer at work, calling more than once weekly about each particular debt, or calling before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m.

South Carolina

Under South Carolina debt collection law, debt collectors are allowed to contact other people if they are attempting to locate you. However, they can’t disclose what you owe and are usually not allowed to contact third parties more than once. If you retain an attorney, collectors are only allowed to contact your attorney and not one else. If you don’t have an attorney and you write a letter to the debt collection agency telling them to stop contacting you, they may not contact you again unless it is to acknowledge that there will be no further contact or to notify you of a specific action they intend to take.                                  

Texas

Under Texas debt collection law, wages cannot be garnished by debt collectors for consumer debt repayment, and declared homesteads are protected from debt collection unless the debt is linked to the home (e.g. defaulted mortgage). Collectors may not call out outside the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. or contact you at work if your employer does not permit these calls.

Join a debt collection lawsuit investigation

Attorneys are interested in speaking to consumers who received illegal creditor and debt collection calls in California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas.

Consumers who received these calls despite not owing a debt to the creditor are the most eligible to take legal action, but debtors who received illegal calls are also eligible to participate.

Please fill out the form on this page to see if you qualify for a FREE case evaluation.