Collection Laws on Calling a Workplace

A debt collector who calls a consumer's place of employment can cause embarrassment and annoyance to the consumer. More importantly, repeated calls to a place of employment may cause a consumer's work to suffer and could result in the consumer losing her job. However, the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act allows a consumer to act to stop debt collectors from calling her workplace.

Workplace Calls

Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a debt collector can call a consumer at his place of employment unless the consumer informs the collector that the employer does not allow the consumer to accept personal phone calls. Also, debt collectors can call employers to find a consumer who owes money, but the collector can only ask whether or not a consumer works there and for the consumer's home phone number and address. The collector can not disclose information about the debt to the employer, unless the collector has a judgment and is providing information to the employer for the purposes of placing a wage withholding.

Documentation

When a consumer informs a debt collector that she cannot take phone calls at work, the consumer should follow up this verbal statement with a written letter. Though a collector should stop making these calls after a consumer verbally tells the collector to stop, having documentation of mailing a letter to the collector can help the consumer to prove that she notified the collector to stop calling her workplace. A consumer should also document when a collector calls her place of employment.

Violations

A consumer may take legal action against a debt collector who violates the FDCPA by calling a workplace after the consumer requests the calls to stop. Under the FDCPA, a consumer may sue the collector and receive up to $1,000 as well as reimbursement of legal costs for each violation, regardless of whether or not the consumer suffered actual damages as a result of the calls. A consumer should also report violations of the FDCPA to the attorney general in his state or the Federal Trade Commission.

State Laws

In addition to federal laws regarding debt collection calls, many states also have debt collection laws that provide consumers even more protection from workplace phone calls and other debt collection practices. For example, in the state of Washington a collector may only make three collection calls in a week and only one of these calls can be to the consumer's place of employment. A consumer can obtain information on specific consumer protection laws regarding debt collections by contacting the attorney general's office in her state.