If you have an outstanding debt and have not yet come across with a debt collector, you need to be ready with the ruthless tactics of some of them. It may sound absurd but there are collectors who would threaten you with killing your pet, digging a dead relative, removing custody of your child from you or even killing you.
These are examples of practices prohibited by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), a federal law that protects all American consumers from abusive collecting agencies. In North Carolina, this law is supported by the state’s own collection laws identical with the FDCPA.
North Carolina FDCPA
North Carolina’s General Statute, Chapter 75, Article 2, Section 58 contains various legislations that is parallel to the federal FDCPA and imposes added protection to consumers. For instance, under § 58 70 95, debt collections are prohibited from conducting threatening and coercive practices, including among others, the following:
- Threats of harm and violence;
- Acts that will result to ridicule, contempt or disgrace;
- False accusations;
- False representations;
- Threats of arrests or lawsuits.
Both state statutes and the FDCPA may be used to go after violating debt collectors with the help of an FDCPA attorney in North Carolina.
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North Carolina Statute of Limitation for Debts
Under the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, particularly Section 1-52.1, the statutes of limitation for different consumer debts is 3 years. This means that your creditor may no longer sue you after three years from the date of your payment default.
This may be difficult to immediately determine for open-ended accounts like credit card debts. The following are some example of consumer debts that has 3 years statute of limitation:
- Promissory notes
- Medical debts
- Credit card debts
- Auto loans
- Installment loans
- Other written and orally contracted debts
A North Carolina FDCPA attorney can be of help with issues such as statutes of limitations of debts to make sure you will not stress out about any threats of lawsuits by debt collectors.
Get an Advice from a North Carolina Attorney
Given the different laws, federal and state, that exist in North Carolina, it can easily get confusing which ones to apply in your case against an abusive debt collector. Consumers may be awarded actual and statutory remedies if they sue these collecting agencies but the person who can make this possible is a North Carolina FDCPA attorney.
Your attorney will be able to determine which route to take in terms of the most possible gains. The federal FDCPA may allow you to recover up to $1,000 in statutory damages while the state law could get you between $100 and $2,000 in statutory fees. This is besides attorneys’ fees, legal costs and actual damages.
Your North Carolina FDCPA attorney can assist you throughout such legal proceedings as a resident of Charlotte, Raleigh, Graham or any other city in North Carolina.
Get a Free Evaluation
You can have a good assessment of your state of affairs with your collection agency if you will avail of the Free Evaluation offered in this site. Upon getting a clearer understanding of the FDCPA law and how it applies to your circumstances, you can then ask to be connected to a North Carolina FDCPA attorney who will assist you throughout your claim against a crooked debt collector.