Social media has become essential to our daily lives, providing a platform to connect with friends, share updates, and discover new information. However, it is not just a place for personal interactions but also a space where debt collectors may try to reach out to you. Dealing with debt collectors on social media can be tricky, but you can handle it effectively with the proper knowledge and approach.
Debt collectors have a powerful financial incentive to do whatever they can to get you to pay them back. They have purchased your legal obligation for you to pay a prior creditor, often for pennies on the dollar. The debt collectors will profit significantly if you pay them back in full. In their book, if you pay them back quickly, it is a huge financial windfall for them, which allows them to buy even more debt. Debt collectors may contact you through your social media account. Even though these contacts do not involve a phone call, federal and state law still applies to them.
Debt collectors may try to do one of two things to get you to pay them:
- Send you messages directly in private, attempting to make contact with you and communicate about your debt
- Post to your page, where everyone else can see that you owe money and what the debt collector writes
Debt collection practices can break the law and give you the legal right to seek financial compensation from the debt collector in a lawsuit. However, there is also a way that you must respond to debt collectors, which includes refraining from getting into a public spat with them.
Contact a FDCPA lawyer if you have questions about your legal rights or what you should do if a debt collector breaks the law. A debt collection attorney can help you take legal action to hold debt collectors accountable for what they have done. You do not have to pay anything out of pocket to get legal help; you may not even have to pay a debt collection lawyer’s fee from the proceeds of your settlement or award because the debt collector will be responsible for those costs.
Debt Collectors May Try to Contact You Through Social Media
Debt collectors try to locate you in any way they can to get you to pay them. They may have searched you online and located your social media accounts. Even though there is a record of what they say to you, that is sometimes a debt collector’s preferred means of communication.
Debt collectors may send you friend requests or try to connect with you on social media. Presumably, you should know who the debt collector is because federal law requires them to correctly identify themselves when they contact you in the first place. Be very careful about random requests from people through your social media because you always need to know the purpose. Very little good comes from accepting a friend request from someone you do not know.
Debt Collectors May Send You DMs Through Social Media
Debt collectors may try to send you messages through your social media account because that is an easy way for them to find you. Under the law, debt collectors can contact you through your DMs because this conduct is the same as any other form of collection (such as sending you a text).
However, there are substantive restrictions on what the debt collector can say when trying to contact you through social media. Debt collectors must correctly identify themselves, and they cannot make any misrepresentations about your debt. They cannot threaten you, nor do they have the ability to harass you. The content of the messages can be grounds for you to sue the debt collector if they have broken the law.
Do Not Fight with the Debt Collector Through DMs
Like any other medium, you should refrain from fighting with debt collectors when they contact you through social media. You will only stress yourself out and make things worse. You do not have to ignore the messages, but you should stick with the facts if you choose to engage with debt collectors. If you decide you do not want them to contact you, it is always possible to stop the messages by ordering them not to message you. Even when you direct debt collectors to cease contacting you, it does not stop them from taking legal action to collect on the debt.
Debt Collectors Cannot Reveal the Existence of Your Debt to a Third Party
Debt collectors may even use your social media account to publicly shame you into trying to pay your debt. They know you are embarrassed and do not want to lose face with your friends by being publicly outed as a debtor. They can tweet at you, or they can post something to your Facebook account. Even though you can remove comments from your page, they may have damaged your reputation before you can hit the delete button.
You will want to try to save face in any way you can, but you must be careful. You may have a potential legal case and do not want to do anything that can cloud your picture.
Do Not Get Into a Public Fight with Debt Collectors
It is crucial that you not fight back against debt collectors in the public realm. They may be trying to draw you into a fight where you think your reputation is at stake. When you engage debt collectors on social media, people may view you as sinking to their level. Things can quickly degenerate into a name-calling contest, where you are in a back-and-forth that can lead to nothing good. When you fight debt collectors on social media, you can lose the high ground when they have broken the law.
If you strike back and get personal, you can compromise your potential legal case. Immediately, you may go from being the victim to one of the two parties saying nasty things to each other in public. Even if debt collectors start the fight, trying to finish it can make you look less sympathetic if your case ever goes to court. You should retain your status as the wronged party to present a better case when you act where you really should – in a court of law.
In fact, it is better not to respond at all, even though you want to act to preserve your reputation. It is best to avoid getting into the merits of debt collectors’ claims against you because it only gives them what they want. Remember that they want to embarrass and shame you into paying them. They achieve their goal if their social media post hits home and you begin an argument.
Save Any Documentation of Illegal Posts or Messages
Then, take a screenshot of the offending posts so you have a record of them. Debt collectors may delete their posts because they do not want evidence of the harassment. If you engage in discovery, you can still obtain old social media posts in the court process. However, that can be extremely difficult, and debt collectors may go to extreme efforts to cover their tracks. If you have these posts in your records, you can give them to your debt collection attorney, who can take them and gather additional evidence that you need to prove your case.
Illegal Debt Collection Conduct Falls Under the FDCPA
Debt collectors’ actions can fall within the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which prevents them from engaging in extreme conduct. This law has been on the books for over thirty years and can be adapted to fit social media, which was not even in existence when Congress passed the law.
The FDCPA prohibits debt collectors from revealing the existence of your debt to a third party. They are not allowed to call your friends or speak with your employers, and they cannot put anything into the public realm that tells others that you owe money. These practices include posting on social media because the debt collector makes your friends and family in your network aware that you are a debtor.
Not only can debt collectors not publicly speak about your debt, but they also cannot make any misrepresentations concerning the debt collection. If they have made any untruthful statements online about you and your debt, they are breaking the law in another way that can leave them liable to you.
You Can Sue the Debt Collector Directly for Damages
The FDCPA allows you to file a lawsuit directly against debt collectors to seek compensation for what they have done. While you should file a report of the illegal conduct with the Federal Trade Commission, you do not have to wait for them to take action. Even if they did, you may still not get money for the harm that the debt collector caused you because the enforcement fines often find their way into the United States Treasury. If you file and win an FDCPA lawsuit, the debt collector must pay you directly.
An attorney can help you file a lawsuit against debt collectors who engage in illegal practices. They have the knowledge and resources to build a strong case against these collectors and hold them accountable for their actions. A debt collection attorney understands violations of the FDCPA or other state and federal laws that govern debt collection activities.
Your Damages in an FDCPA Lawsuit
Your debt collection attorney can quantify the amount of damages that you have suffered when you try to seek compensation. Of course, you have the legal right to statutory damages of up to $1,000 (although this is a one-time award, as opposed to a payment for each violation of the FDCPA).
In addition, you can always receive compensation for the harm to your reputation that debt collectors caused when they said something in the public realm. The debt collector’s posts may have caused you to lose your job or make it more difficult for you to find one in the first place.
Finally, the law states that debt collectors may even owe you attorney’s fees if you prove their illegal conduct, and you can keep everything you have received in a settlement or court award. The FDCPA makes the debt collector pay your attorney from their own pocket.
The FDCPA does not allow for punitive damages from the debt collector. However, state laws also protect you from illegal debt collection practices that can allow for punitive damages. Your debt collection attorney may advise you whether it is better to file a lawsuit in federal court or if you should file a state law case.
If debt collectors have made false claims against you in their posts, you can file a lawsuit for defamation. However, these claims must be false in nature and published in public, and it may be possible to obtain even more damages when you can sue for defamation. A debt collection attorney can determine if the postings were defamatory, providing you with an initial avenue of relief.
Contact a Debt Collection Lawyer to Learn More About Your Legal Rights
You should contact a debt collection attorney at the outset of your case to learn what you should and should not do when a debt collector breaks the law. A debt collection lawyer will advise you on protecting your case when a debt collector is going too far. They will also explain the legal process you must follow to obtain total and fair compensation when the debt collector has broken the law.
When you hire a consumer protection attorney, they work on a contingency fee basis, meaning they only get paid if they successfully negotiate a settlement on your behalf. This arrangement means you do not have to worry about paying any upfront fees or retainer costs. The lawyer will only take a percentage of the amount you get in the debt settlement.
Having an attorney by your side can give you peace of mind because an experienced professional will handle your case. They can guide you through the legal process, gather evidence, negotiate on your behalf, and protect your rights. Do not face the challenges of dealing with debt collectors alone – reach out to a skilled attorney today.