A debt collector including the creditor itself must not contact a California debtor who it knows is represented by an attorney. Yet the collector violation de jour seems to be the refrain, “I don’t care if you have a bankruptcy lawyer, I’ll call you every day until you can provide a bankruptcy case number”.
If this happens to you, and you have told the caller that you are represented by a lawyer about this debt, make sure to get the name, phone number, and the entity the caller represents. It makes it easier to sue them for violation of Califorrnia’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Here’s the authority: the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits contact by a third party collector with a consumer who is represented by a lawyer. 15 USC 1692c.
California expanded the consumers rights with respect to debt collection by including the original creditor in the class of persons covered by the Rosenthal Act. Civil Code Section 1788.17 imports the prohibition of contacting a debtor who has a lawyer.
So, don’t get your legal information from a debt collector and don’t shrug off violations of law. Tell your lawyer, make a record of the facts, and fight back.
