The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the New York City Consumer Defense Law Policy 10 and New York State Statute, General Organisation Law, Short Article 29-H, (the "State Statute") all prohibit threatening, harassing and frightening collection treatments. The State Statute forbids a collection agent from (a) threatening to communicate with your company prior to that agent obtaining a judgement against you, (b) interacting with your family or family at such frequency or at such unusual hours as can fairly be anticipated to be abusive or harassing, or (c) replicating any legal or judicial procedure or appearing to be authorized, issued or authorized by the government or a lawyer to collect a debt.
If the collection representative sends you a letter demanding you pay without the reuired notification under the federal law regarding your privacy, your rights to dispute the debt an dgiving you the proper 30 days to respond, then the debt collector is instantly responsible to you for any damages plus 3 times the quantity ZFN and Associates of your damages. Each infraction of the State Statute is a separate misdemeanor offense. You can submit charges with the State Chief Law Officer or your County District Attorney and also demand a restraining action versus the collection company to stop it from continuing abuse and harassment.
Call that agency and get the name and address of the owner/president if you feel abused or bugged by a collection agency. Send your written problem, by certified mail, return invoice, to the owner/president and consist of in your letter that you "believe that agency is breaching the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and other state and local laws which you will (a) file grievances with the Chief law officer or the District Attorney's office (subjecting the collection business to misdemeanor charges) and (b) request a limiting action against the debt collection agency." If the collection company continues to abuse and harrass you, then go on and submit your charges and grievances.
This post is certainly not all inclusive and is meant just as a brief description of the legal issue presented. If you have any questions with respect to any legal matters, not all cases are alike and it is highly suggested that you seek advice from an attorney.