The House Financial Services Committee will soon vote on potential legislation that could affect Louisiana debt collection laws and give debt collector free rein to harassing consumers. The Practice of Law Technical Clarification Act would enable law firms and attorney debt collectors to be excempt from the rules that other non-attorney debt collectors are subject to under the Fair Debt Collection Act (FDCPA).
The debt collection industry has grown to become a multi-billion dollar industry. Each year, debt collectors take approximately 10 billion dollars away from United States consumers. While taking money from consumers, they often will stop at no end to harass, threaten, and overcharge consumers. As a result, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) receives more complaints about debt collectors than any other consumer complaint.
While the CFPB can process complaints, it recently announced that they are freezing all pending regulatory action. Essentially, the CFPB is not currently providing any level of significant consumer protection. Thus, the only reliable protection against debt collection harassment is provided by the FDCPA, Louisiana debt collection laws, and consumer law attorneys.
The government’s most recent response to the problem is the Practice of Law Technical Clarification Act, an act to reduce consumer protection. Surprisingly, the act would allow debt collectors to not be subject to the rules provided by the FDCPA if they are attorneys. So, debt collection law firms would be able to harass, threaten, or use any means otherwise legal to shake down consumers.
The act would allow debt collector law firms to continuously call elderly until they agreed to give up their Social Security to pay off default judgments. It would allow debt collector law firms to be collection mills among many other abusive practices and take away consumers rights under existing Louisiana debt collection laws.
Currently, the FDCPA allows relief from debt collectors by providing federal standing to bring a debt collector to court for threatening or harassing practices. The Practice of Law Techinial Clarification Act would remove that right withing Louisiana debt collection laws for consumers against a vast number of debt collectors.
Consumer advocates recommend contacting your Congressman and demand that they oppose the Practice of Law Technical Clarification. If you are currently being harassed or threatened by a debt collector, contact Paramount Law today to see if you can make them stop and see the collectors should pay you up to $1,000 instead!
