Making a few bad financial decisions, or falling in hard times can cause any person to lose their self-worth. However, just because you are down due to debts, doesn’t mean that you do not have any rights in this situation. According to Sacramento based Recovery Law Group lawyers, protections have been put in place to make sure that you don’t have to deal with unruly and disturbing collection practices made by creditors and collection agencies. The most important protection extends to your mobile phones.
Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
The TCPA act was set up to help preserve the right of debtor’s against any sort of harassment by creditors. Several important components of the law exist including rules for creditors:
Creditors Cannot:
- Call debtors before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
- Call a mobile phone or hospital room using automated dialing
Creditors Must:
- Maintain and honor a Do-Not-Call list
- Subscribe to and honor the National Do Not Call Registry
- Always provide name and contact information for the creditor on whose behalf the call is being made
These guidelines are set to ensure that consumers are protected from the over-aggressive behavior adapted by most collection agencies. In case you have been subjected to such malpractices too, you can take actions to fight back.
How to Know Whether Incoming Calls are Violating TCPA?
If you are confused whether the calls regarding payment dues are in violation of TCPA guidelines, here are a few clues to help you confirm your doubts:
- The grossly mispronounced name is one of the 1st clues that the call has generated by a computer. In case you get a call with such tones on your voicemail or mobile phone, you have been subjected to auto dialing.
- Sometimes, the message is not robotic, but too perfect and extremely well-rehearsed to be an impromptu one. This can be a signal of auto dialing
- One of the more obvious sign is getting many identical messages. If they sound similar, they are probably auto dialed. Though many collection agencies work with a scripted message, the extreme level of uniformity is highly unlikely unless the calls are auto dialed.
If you have been at the receiving end of such auto dialed calls, it is time to protect yourself from the harassment, by consulting with a collection lawyer.