Undisclosed
Settlement
TCPA class action against the Los Angeles Times. Final approval granted 2014.
Aggressive Debt Collectors know that having your co-workers or employer find out that you are being perused by debt collectors, can be very embarrassing and that you might be inclined to take any means necessary to get them paid faster.
It is legal for a debt collector to contact your employer if they have a judgment against you in order to set up a garnishment. That is all they can do, however. This is not an opportunity for the collector to discuss your matter in great detail. Simply, they need to find out where to send the garnishment notice.
A collector can also contact any 3rd party, which may include an employer. But, only in order to seek your location information, and in doing so, must specifically state just that – that they are looking for location information – and nothing more. Furthermore, they can only contact that third-party one time. So if a collector is contacting an employer, and that collector does not have a judgment against you, and that collector does not just ask for where you are located, then that collector may be in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, FDCPA.
This being said, a collector’s ability to contact your employer is extremely limited. Many of the contacts do violate the FDCPA. If you are dealing with a harassing collector who is contacting your employer, contact my office, The Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman at (877) 449-8898
