Your Rights Under the Florida Consumer Collections Practices Act (FCCPA)
How do I get up to $1000
Florida Statute 559.77 provides that a consumer can sue a creditor, and if the Court finds that a creditor violated the FCCPA it is liable for actual damages and additional statutory damages as the court may allow, but not exceeding $1000. That said, some people may be entitled to even more than $1000 so it is important that you contact us for a free case evaluation.
Will this cost me Attorneys’ Fees?
Nope! Under Florida Statute 559.77, in addition to your actual damages and up to $1000 in statutory damages, the creditor has to pay for your costs and attorneys’ fees. That means we at Korin Law do not have to charge you a single penny to file your lawsuit.
Overview of the Law the Florida Consumer Collections Practices Act
Florida Statute 559.55 – 559.785 is known as the “Florida Consumer Collections Practices Act”, or FCCPA for short. Under the FCCPA, the Florida Legislature has determined that there are certain things that creditors can and cannot do. One of these things is not contacting you between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m.
Now you may be thinking that a monthly bill that you get does not qualify as a debt, especially if it’s coming from your apartment complex or a company like Conservice. However, Florida has defined a debt or consumer debt, as well as a creditor very broadly. In fact, so long as your bill is for “personal, family, or household purposes” (sorry businesses!), you likely owe a debt, and the person or company billing you is a creditor! Personal, family, or household purposes can mean your car payment, your personal credit cards, your utility bills, any type of installment loans, or any other bill you may have so long as it was used for personal, family, or household purposes.
Specifically, Florida Statute 559.55 defines a “consumer debt” as “any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay money arising out of a transaction in which the money, property, insurance, or services which are the subject of the transaction are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, whether or not such obligation has been reduced to judgment.” In turn, creditor means “any person who offers or extends credit creating a debt or to whom a debt is owed, but does not include any person to the extent that they receive an assignment or transfer of a debt in default solely for the purpose of facilitating collection of such debt for another.” In simple terms a debt is an obligation to pay money, and the creditor is the person who created the obligation.
Emails between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. are prohibited
It’s a pretty miserable feeling waking up in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning to check your email and see an inbox full of bills. In fact, the U.S. Government as well as the state of Florida wants to protect you from going through that unpleasant experience.
In simple terms, Florida has taken the position that it wants to protect its citizens from unauthorized debt collection practices and so the FCCPA will work in conjunction with the Federal Debt Collect Practices Act, which we’ll call the Federal Act. Florida has determined that it will interpret the FCCPA in a manner that is most favorable to you, the consumer.
Florida Statute 559.72(17) says that any person cannot communicate with the debtor between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. in the debtor’s time zone without the prior consent of the debtor. So how does “communicate” include an email? The Federal Act prohibits a debt collector from communicating or attempting to communicate, including through electronic communication media, at any unusual time, or at a time that the debt collector knows or should know is inconvenient to the consumer. This electronic communication includes email. Like we mentioned, the FCCPA works in conjunction with the Federal Act. Under the Federal Act congress gave the authority to make regulations to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”). On November 30, 2021, the CFPB released new rules and regulations regarding the Federal Act and made it clear that email communications at inconvenient times are specifically prohibited.
Unlike the federal act, Florida goes a step further and applies this to any person instead of just debt collectors. This means that in Florida, emails from any person attempting to collect a debt, between the hours of 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. is strictly prohibited, and if you did receive an email attempting to collect a debt between 9 to 8, you may be entitled to compensation!
We’re here to help
Here at Korin Law, we are passionate about helping consumers, and we have been suing billion-dollar insurance companies on behalf of homeowners for years. We want you to rest assured that we will be here every step of the way and will be doing our best to get you paid.