How Can FDCPA Attorneys Use Claims to Leverage Settlements?
According to The Association of Credit and Collection Professionals, in 2013, third-party debt collectors made $10.4 billion dollars in commissions from debt collections. It is absolutely a fact that some of these commissions were earned from illegal collection practices, which is why it important for you to know your rights as a consumer and debtor so that you can use these illegal practices against the debt collector in negotiations. An experienced FDCPA attorney can help guide the settlement process and handle these negotiations on your behalf.
In the debt collection world, time is money and time spent litigating FDCPA claims is not money well spent. Debt collectors want to recover the most amount of money in the shortest period of time and throwing a wrench in their plan by having an experienced FDCPA attorney posing legitimate FDCPA violations is a great way to leverage a settlement. Although statutory damages for violations of the FDCPA are only up to $1000 per lawsuit, attorney’s fees may be awarded as well. Therefore, it is very important to be an educated debtor so that your attorney can use FDCPA violations as a leveraging point in negotiations.
As a debtor you want to make sure you are keeping track of when a creditor calls and what is said during that call. You also want to make sure that you hold onto any and all letters received from a debt collector. By being an educated debtor, you will be able to provide your attorney with all of the tools they need to significantly reduce the debt allegedly owed to the creditor, or, in some cases, completely eliminate the debt allegedly owed to the creditor.