How can a California Consumer Get a Legal Remedy Against an Auto Related Fraud?

In a recent complaint survey conducted by various government agencies like the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators (NACAA), and the North American Consumer Protection Investigators (NACPI), auto-related issues were named as the top complaints by consumers and consumer protection agencies for the second year in a row. Auto-related complaints include misrepresentations in advertising or sales of new and used cars, lemon buy backs and used cars with faulty repairs. Auto-related complaints also include misrepresentations regarding the leasing and towing disputes of the used cars.

Following are some of the Statutes your California lemon law attorney can make use of to protect your California consumer rights:

The California Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA)

California Code of Civil Procedure §§ 1750 - 1784
California Code of Civil Procedure § 1750 prohibits vagueness, unfair business practices, and deception by unlawful methods of competition. It also prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices in a sale or lease of goods or services to any consumer.

California Code of Civil Procedure § 1770

The CLRA claim is especially attractive to auto fraud victims. Here, the California Code of Civil Procedure § 1780 allows consumers who have suffered damage as a result of a practice declared unlawful by § 1770 to obtain a punitive damages, court costs and attorney fees and any other relief the court deems proper.

California's Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices (UDAP)

One of the effective tools a California used car consumer can employ to protect his investment is California's Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices (UDAP), sometimes called 'little FTC Acts'. Every state has enacted some form of UDAP law, so does the State of California. The State of California statute prohibits 23 specific practices, other unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive practices. Deceptive trade practices are aimed at misleading or enticing people into purchasing a product or service. False advertising and odometer tampering are the most common deceptive practices in automotive sales. The essence of UDAP activity has been California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL) is § 17200.

The UCL prohibits and carries many remedies for:

• Unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice

• Unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading advertising

Now almost all California's UDAP statutes provide that a consumer can sue for damages and can collect his California lemon law attorney's fees from the losing party. In a number of states the court is empowered to award double or triple damages and sometimes punitive damages if he wins the case.

California's Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act (UDTPA)

Deceptive trade practices are common which can equally affect individuals or businesses in almost all the states. Many states have adopted the standardized Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act (UDTPA). California's Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act includes and covers all the prohibitions and issues addressed in the state of California law.

California's Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act:

• Prohibits making deceptive representations in connection with commercial goods

• Covers odometer tampering

• Addresses all forms of deception in the marketing or advertising of goods and services

Krohn & Moss, Consumer Law Center is a leading California law firm specializing in auto fraud. The law firm of Krohn & Moss, Consumer Law Center®, was founded in 1995 by attorneys Adam Krohn and Greg Moss, to provide legal representation to consumers with defective vehicles and products. If you suspect that you have been the victim of a California auto fraud, you can get rid of your problem car by pursuing your California lemon law claim. Submit the case details for a Free* Case Review under the California lemon laws.

Helping Consumers, Helping Debt Collectors

In 1977, the Consumer Affairs Subcommittee added a new title to the Consumer Credit Protection Act entitled the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The purpose of this bill was to protect consumers from a host of unfair, harassing, and deceptive debt collection practices. However, this purpose was to be accomplished without imposing unnecessary restrictions on ethical debt collectors. As such, this bill was not only supported by consumer groups, labor unions, and State and Federal law enforcement officials, it was also supported by the American Collectors Associations and Associated Credit Bureaus.

The FDCPA’s main objective is to protect consumer against unscrupulous debt collectors. However, what many people don’t realize is that the FDCPA is also designed to protect honest, ethical debt collectors from being competitively disadvantaged by the unlawful debt collectors. The FDCPA aims to even the playing field so that debt collectors, who engage in lawful collection methods, by showing common courtesy and respect to the consumers, are not competitively disadvantaged by the unscrupulous debt collectors.

When a consumer sues a debt collector for their harassment and unlawful debt collection, the consumer partakes in fulfilling the objectives of the FDCPA, by not only protecting the general public, but also protecting the honest and ethical debt collectors who refrain from using these unlawful debt collection practices.

The Three Most Important Steps to Stopping Debt Collection Harassment

Three very important steps to stopping of debt collection are identifying whether you owe a debt or not, reviewing your rights and taking action of your rights have been violated.

The Fair debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was established by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to ensure fair debt collection practices. The FDCPA is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and private attorneys governs fair debt collection methods. Any violation of the FDCPA can attract a compensation of $1000 per violation.

The following are the FDCPA Violations by debt collectors:

• Calling you repeatedly at inconvenient times
• Threatening you with serious consequences
• Using abusive language
• Calling your place of work
• Not validating debt
• Demanding more than you owe
• Not disclosing identity
• Contacting third parties about your debt
• Contacting you even after you are represented by attorney
• Harassing you even after receiving cease and desist letter from you
  

Are you a victim of debt collection calls? First find out if the debt collection company has been calling you by mistake. Even if it is calling by mistake or calling to ask for a relative or a friend, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) protects you from any type of harassment from debt collectors. If a debt collector calls you repeatedly and despite your repeated requests, continues to call, the FDCPA rights protect you.

Under the FDCPA rights, you may

• Not take a call from a debt collector
• Hang up on a debt collector
• Inform a debt collector not to call
• Send a letter to a debt collector not to call
• Fix a convenient time to call you
• Not allow debt collector to call you at odd times
• Ask debt collector to validate the debt in writing
• Instruct debt collector not to call at work place
• Send a cease and desist letter to debt collectors to stop further communication
• Engage an attorney for further communication and legal action
• Record the calls from debt collectors (if it is allowed in the state you reside in)
  

Take action if the debt collector has not

• Sent you a written notification of the amount of debt and the name of the creditor within five working days of the call
• Send you Mini Miranda warning
• Has not informed you of your right to dispute the debt within 30 days after you receive the notice, in the warning
• Disclosed in the first communication with you that he or she is attempting to collect a debt
• Informed you that any information obtained will be used for that purpose
• Included the above disclosure If the debt collector’s first communication with you is by phone
• Included the above disclosure in its first written communication with you as well
• Identified himself or herself in all subsequent communication with you

California Debt Liability when Spouses Separate

The Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Act (RFDCPA) and other consumer acts in California treat debt of separated spouses the same as when they were together but the practical differences are extensive. California civil code takes the earnings of both the husband and wife into account while disbursing with the legal points.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal act constituted in 1977 to establish fair debt collection practices. The RFDCPA is the California state statute, also adopted in 1977 to regulate the conduct of debt collectors and to prohibit California debt collector harassment.

“The California statute prohibits numerous deceptive, dishonest, unfair and unreasonable debt collection practices by debt collectors, and it also regulates the form and content communications by collectors to debtors and others.” (The California Statute)

According to the RFDCPA, creditors also are covered under the term “debt collectors” whereas according to the federal statutes an original creditor is not covered under the FDCPA. The RFDCPA along with other California family law statutes governs the debts in divorced and separated marriages. It is expected that the separating parties settle the division of property and debts on their own. In the absence of this mutual agreement, California family law and the RFDCPA interfere in helping the grieving parties to come to a decision.

According to the California laws, the debts incurred during the married period which is before separation, are liable on the community. Whether the husband or the wife incurs the debt for their personal use or for family, the community is liable for the repayment. The name on the bill or credit card statements also is not a concern, but if it is incurred during the time of their married life, both the spouses are equally liable.

While the concerned parties are consulting for a settlement, all debts should be divided equally. The grieving parties can work out different options like one person takes a major share in the property in exchange to paying off the joint debts. Since both spouses are responsible for debts owed jointly, it would be required of the spouse paying off the debts to be regular in payments.

California debt collector harassment after the separation is distressful when you are already dealing with the trauma of a separated marriage. While the family courts may resolve your separation issue and your property division, it would require a lot of patience and resilience for the husband and wife to work out a debt payment plan amongst themselves.

California debt collector harassment can be at its worst when you have separated and have debts to repay. Though it is inevitable to go on an emotional roller coaster to cope with both separation and debts, thinking clearly and logically would help both parties.

Complaints About California Debt Collector Harassment

There has been a tremendous increase in California debt collector harassment complaints. Since 2006 to 2010, California debt collector harassment complaints have risen by 194%. In 2010, 10,914 lawsuits seeking relief under the FDCPA were filed by or for consumers.

The Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (RFDCPA) is equipped with additional protections for consumers when they are dealing with debt collectors. Problem of abusive collectors has been on the increase with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Common complaints include harassment by debt collectors who call consumers repeatedly, use threatening or profane language and threaten consumers with illegal actions if they do not pay them the money they demand.

In addiction to all the protections that the federal FDCPA provides, the RFDCPA imposes additional stipulations on debt collectors communicating about your debt to your employer or other outsiders. There is also an additional provision for protection when a collector is attempting to collect on an already cleared debt through bankruptcy. California debt collectors are quite often very aggressive in attempting to collect on wiped out debts.

If you are illegally served with a summons and complaints related to a debt, the RFDCPA protects you. The California debt collector harassment laws demand that a debt collector cannot file a lawsuit against you in another state, county or location that is far from where you live, unless the concerned debt was incurred in that location.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and private attorneys impose the RFDCPA to protect you from debt collection harassment. While it is necessary for you to take calls from debt collectors, the RFDCPA strictly prohibits harassment of any form. The Act restricts debt collectors' calls to prior agreed time. Calling during night or any other inconvenient times is considered a violation of the RFDCPA. Debt collectors are required to send all communication to you in sealed envelopes and not by postcards. The collector must disclose his name and reason for calling as also notifications with information about the amount you owe, the name of the creditor and process to follow if you dispute the bill.

If you have been a victim of the above violations and/or more, you may consult a private attorney. An attorney would directly represent your interests. You may contact attorneys at Krohn & Moss, Consumer Law Center® who have helped thousands of victims of California debt collector harassment to put a full stop to debt collector harassment.

About Krohn & Moss, Consumer Law Center®
The law firm of Krohn & Moss, Consumer Law Center®, was founded in 1995 by attorneys Adam Krohn and Greg Moss, to provide legal representation to consumers with defective vehicles and products. In 1998, Krohn & Moss, Consumer Law Center® consumer fraud practice started, concentrating in auto fraud claims such as odometer setbacks, auto dealer financing scams and vehicle history misrepresentations. In 2002, FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) and FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) violations became an additional focus of the firm, in their efforts to assist victimized consumers with credit reporting and debt collection issues. Krohn & Moss Consumer Law Center® has arbitrated, settled and litigated cases which have had a profound impact on consumer protection law.

Contact:
Krohn & Moss, Consumer Law Center®
10474 Santa Monica Blvd.
Suite 401
Los Angeles, CA 90025

Notifications from Debt Collectors According to the RFDCPA

The Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (RFDCPA) is California state fair debt collection act. It is largely based on the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). California debt collector harassment is governed by both the federal and the state Acts. The RFDCPA was adopted in 1977 to deal with unfair debt collection practices in the state.

According to the RFDCPA, A creditor need not inform you about referring your account to a debt collection agency. A health spa account requires to send notification before the debt is assigned for collection.

California debt collection has taken an ugly turn which is evident in the increasing number of California debt collector harassment cases registered at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). One of the violations in California debt collector harassment is not sending valid notices when they call you in an attempt to collect debts.

According to RFDCPA, a debt collector is required to send you notification, in his first contact with you regarding an unpaid bill or within five days of his initial contact, the amount you owe, name of the creditor and information regarding your rights about disputing the bill. Whether a California debt collector contacts you by a telephone or in writing, the five-day notification period stands. Many California debt collection agencies post this information on their initial notice itself.

It is mandatory in the RFDCPA for debt collectors to include in each notice the following information:

• Name of the Creditor
• Name and contact details of the collection agency
• Mailing date of the notice
• Total amount due

Under the RFDCPA it is considered legal to contact your employer to find about your employment, location, your medical insurance details or to garnish your wages if court has given a judgment to that effect. If an agency has permission to contact your employer for details about you, debt collection agency should make its inquiry in writing. Should the agency not receive a response in writing, the agency may contact your employer by other means.

A California debt collection agency can contact you at your work place unless it knows that your employer does not appreciate of it. Under the RFDCPA there is a provision to stop being contacted at work if you wish not to be contacted. You should send a notice to the debt collectors requesting them not to contact you at work and if they must, then it should be through a written notice marked Personal and Confidential. All telephonic or other ways of contact by debt collectors can be stopped if you wish to, by sending a written request by certified mail with return receipt request. After this the agency may contact you once more to explain their next course of action.

Avoid NCO Debt Collector Harassment

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was established to regulate debt collection practices. The Act came into existence after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received numerous complaints about unfair and illegal debt collection methods employed by the third party debt collectors. One such formidable third party collection agency that outsmarts all other debt collection agencies is the NCO Financial Systems.

The NCO has over 100 offices in more than ten countries and has a work force of 24,000 employees that actively participate in all debt collection processes. The NCO is a third party debt collection agency that collects on behalf of creditors. The FTC fined the NCO a record $1.5 million in 2004 in a debt collection case for violating the FDCPA. This collection agency tops all types of debt related complaints.

According to the FDCPA, an NCO debt collector cannot harass you by calling you at any time of day or night. He cannot call you at your workplace. He cannot shout or abuse you to pay the debt. If you have asked him verbally or in writing not to call you, he has to stop. If you are represented by an attorney he must contact only the attorney. By calling you even after your engaging an attorney, debt collector violates the FDCPA. You can sue the NCO debt collector for this violation. An NCO debt collector cannot intimidate you with dire consequences like threatening to garnish your wages, or get you arrested. These violations are strictly punishable by law.

The FDCPA has strict laws to punish agencies like the NCO. Once the NCO gets hold of your account there is no stopping them to make calls or engage in any other form of harassment. You should first know your rights in the FDCPA.

If you default on payments, it is advisable to stay ahead of debt collectors by calling creditors and explaining your predicament. Creditors often understand your commitment if you call and explain. However, do not commit to what you cannot pay. Just make an agreement to pay regularly what fits your budget. If you can pay more at a later point, it would be welcome.

Debt collection agencies like the NCO do not play the game by rules. It is best to recognize their violations at the first instance and go legal. If debt collectors have violated, each violation may be sued for $1000. Per the Section 813 of the FDCPA you can sue debt collectors for violating the fair debt act.