You wake up one morning to find your cell phone voicemail box lit up like a Christmas tree. Thinking the voice messages are from one or more professional colleagues, you quickly retrieve each call.
To your dismay, the calls are not from co-workers, but instead, the phone calls are from a debt collection agency. The phone calls made overnight represent a blatant violation of a landmark consumer protection law.
In addition, the third party debt collector issued a threat to put you in jail for refusing to pay off a personal loan balance. According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), you have the right to stop the harassment, as well as sue the bill collector in a civil court.
How Kansas FDCPA Laws Work
Passed in 1977, the FDCPA represents a comprehensive set of consumer protection provisions that cover every American consumer. For example, a consumer living in Maine enjoys the same legal protections that a consumer in Kansas enjoys.
The difference among the 50 states are unique FDCPA laws that apply only to individual states. In Kansas, state FDCPA laws follow the federal FDCPA by protecting consumers against bill collector abuse and harassment.
Kansas FDCPA laws also forbid what is called “extortionate” credit lines, which means consumers should never have to deal with debt collection agencies that threaten to use violence to coerce consumers into paying off outstanding credit card and personal loan balances.
![How Kansas' FDCPA Laws Can Help Protect You]()
Kansas and Federal FDCPA Law Protections
Third party debt collectors that call consumers between the hours of 9 pm and 8 am violate one of the most important provisions written into the FDCPA. Bill collectors are also prohibited from repeatedly calling consumers, whether the phone calls are made to a home landline or to a work only cell phone number.
In fact, you can stop debt collection agency phone calls made to you at work by invoking the “reason to know” clause of the FDCPA. “Reason to know” means a third party debt collector understands your employer does not allows bill collectors to call employees in the workplace.
In addition, the federal FDCPA does not allow bill collectors to use deceptive technique to force consumers into settling outstanding debts.
Kansas legislators enacted the Kansas Consumer Protection Act (KSA) which covers the actions conducted by both original creditors and debt collection agencies. State FDCPA laws forbid tactics that a court would define as “unconscionable” debt collection practices.
Any consumer that falls victim to illegal third party debt collector practices in the State of Kansas has the right to seek monetary damages that are capped at $10,000, plus the cost of hiring a lawyer.
In Kansas, bill collectors have three years to settle delinquent oral contracts and five years to chase after consumers that owe money on written contracts.
Speak with a Kansas licensed consumer protection attorney today to learn more about how the FDCPA can help protect you against illegal debt collection practices.
If you believe that a debt collector is violating Kansas’ FDCPA laws, you should seek the help of an FDCPA attorney. You may be able to seek up to $1,000 in damages for each violation of the FDCPA. An attorney will be able to help navigate you through the entire process.
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