When your credit card providers and other creditors sell your debt to a third-party debt collection agency, it can feel like the beginning of a nightmare. You suddenly start receiving aggressive and demanding calls at home and work, making you feel like a deadbeat or criminal.
If a debt collector is harassing you, a consumer lawyer can help you fight for your rights.
Your Rights Under the FDCPA
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, is a federal law that governs the actions of third-party debt collectors who focus on consumer debts such as credit card bills, student loans, and mortgages.
Threatening collection activities like the following violate the FDCPA and can expose the debt collector to serious penalties.
- Using profane or obscene language
- Telling you that you can be arrested or imprisoned for nonpayment of a debt
- Failing to report a debt as disputed to the credit bureaus
- Calling you outside of the hours of 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. in your time zone
- Threatening legal actions they cannot take or have no intention of taking
- Calling you several times per day using an autodialer
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Company Profile: Powell, Rogers & Speaks, Inc.
If you are being called by Powell, Rogers & Speaks, Inc., some background information about the company is below.
Powell, Rogers & Speaks, Inc. is a debt collection agency located in Halifax, Pennsylvania. It opened in 1990, has 300 employees, and is managed by its President, Gene Powell.
According to the company website, it is “made up of debt collection professionals, attorneys, certified public accounts and licensed private investigators providing you all the necessary tools for your recovery.”
A review of civil litigation records at the PACER website confirms that consumers who felt they were being harassed by Powell, Rogers & Speaks, Inc. chose to fight back.
According to PACER, on or around November 9, 2007, Powell, Rogers & Speaks, Inc.. sent a collection letter to a Florida consumer. It stated that unless the debt was disputed in writing, the agency would assume that it was valid.
However, the FDCPA does not require such a dispute to be submitted in written form.
Feeling harassed by Powell, Rogers & Speaks, Inc., the consumer hired a consumer lawyer and initiated a lawsuit against the agency for allegedly violating her rights in the following ways:
- Misleading her on her dispute rights
- Using false, deceptive, and misleading means to collect a debt
The matter was later dismissed.
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Hire a Consumer Lawyer
The phone numbers for Powell, Rogers & Speaks, Inc. are:
Any time that either number shows up on your caller ID, it means that Powell, Rogers & Speaks, Inc. is on the line. If they send collection letters that mislead you on your dispute rights, contact a consumer lawyer to help you file a claim against Powell, Rogers & Speaks, Inc.
You may be able to recover up to $1000 in statutory damages, as well as court costs and attorney fees. If you have been abused or threatened by a collection agency, a consumer lawyer can help protect your rights.
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Additional Resources
Case taken from PACER (pacer.gov). File number is Case 0:07-cv-61678-CMA from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
*Disclaimer: The content of this article serves only to provide information and should not be constructed as legal advice. If you file a claim against Powell, Rogers & Speaks, Inc.. or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.