image

Debt Collection Abuse

It is illegal for a debt collector to telephone you at work after being told to stop. Debt collectors cannot speak to anyone that you don't want them to speak to, including you, anyone at your place of employment, or any of your family and friends.  Debt collectors cannot legally yell at you or swear at you, and they can not lie to you.  They cannot threaten you, and they cannot sue you, unless it is convenient to you.  And contrary to what debt collectors would have you believe, it is you who holds all the cards – if you know your rights.  And if you decide to sue them it will cost you nothing.

Obtain A Free EvaluationExamples of Debt Collection Abuse

image

Debt Lawsuit Defense

You incurred the debt.  You owe the money.  You have not paid.  And now you have been sued.  You are going to lose, right?  Wrong!

The hardest thing about winning a lawsuit for allegedly not paying a credit card debt is getting consumers to understand that they stand a good chance of winning if they do the right things.  And it costs very little to have us do it for you!  Debt collection is easy when consumers believe there is nothing they can do.  Consumers just give up and then they lose.  Don't be one of those people.  Instead, be one of thousands who prevail in this situation.

Obtain A Free EvaluationSome Recent Debt Defense Results

image

Class Action Litigation

At Hyde & Swigart, we use every available legal tactic to ensure your rights are vindicated and the bad guys do not get away with their deceit and abusive tactics. Class actions are powerful weapons, and you can fight back with the best of them! A class action is a form of lawsuit in which a person or persons bring a claim to court for a large class of consumers. We occasionally file these lawsuits for consumers.  Just because your damages are small does not mean you should not prevail, and that is exactly what class actions are designed to address.

More About Class Actions

image

We Want To Help You.

At Hyde & Swigart, our focus is on protecting consumers from debt collectors, and in defending consumers who are being sued for consumer debts.  However, we also provide other consumer services, as well.  For example, if you just discovered that someone obtained a judgment against you, we can help.  We can also help with unfair repossessions, and unwanted telephone solicitations.  We have also helped consumers with student loans, tenant-landlord issues, home-owner association issues, and so called "debt negotiation companies" (companies that claim to help you get out of debt while really making your situation worse.)  If you have a consumer related concern and you want a free consultation, Hyde & Swigart is there for you.

See Our Evaluations Here

  • Debt Collection AbuseDebt Collection Abuse
  • Debt DefenseDebt Defense
  • Class ActionClass Action
  • Other Consumer ActionsOther Consumer Actions

Customers must know if call monitored, court says

Bob Egelko
Published on 23 November 2011
  • Print

A business must notify its customers that telephone conversations with employees will be monitored, and can be penalized $5,000 per call for secret eavesdropping, a state appeals court ruled Monday.

California law "protects an individual's right to know who is listening to a telephone conversation," the Fourth District Court of Appeal in San Diego said in reinstating a class-action suit against a consumer finance company.

The company, CashCall, provided the standard tape-recorded message on most of its incoming calls from customers, advising them that the conversations "may be monitored or recorded for quality-control purposes." But plaintiffs in the lawsuit said there were no such messages on some incoming calls or on any outgoing debt-collection calls from employees to borrowers.

A San Diego judge dismissed the suit, saying state laws ban only undisclosed monitoring by an outsider and not by an employee of the same corporation. Eavesdropping requires a third person, Superior Court Judge William Nevitt reasoned, and a corporation and its employees are usually considered a single entity when someone sues them.

The appeals court disagreed.

"The violation of the privacy right is the same regardless of who employs the secret listener," said Justice Judith Haller in the 3-0 ruling.

CashCall also argued that customers would know that anything they said to an employee on the phone would be shared with supervisors. But Haller said the law protects Californians from having their conversations "secretly overheard," regardless of whether the information is passed along later.

Joshua Swigart, a lawyer for more than 500 CashCall customers, said they may disclose personal information to finance companies and collectors - such as a medical condition that has made it harder to pay a bill on time - and should at least be on notice that someone else is listening.

He said the ruling should encourage companies to tell employees who call customers that the conversations may be monitored.

CashCall's lawyer was unavailable for comment. The company could appeal to the state Supreme Court.

The ruling can be viewed at sfg.ly/tzcFYm.

E-mail Bob Egelko at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This article appeared on page D - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle