Bill Rufty
The Florida Senate Banking and Insurance Committee passed a bill Tuesday by Sen. Kelli Stargel, a Lakeland Republican, protecting creditors from being sued or fined for continued harassing debt collection calls if the person owing the debt or their attorney fails to provide certain notice at a specific location.
The vote was 7 to 3 in favor. The bill now goes to the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee.
Trial attorneys have argued that the bill could change could reduce protection against harassing bill collectors’ phone calls to private citizens.
Stargel said the bill is designed solely to protect major corporations, particularly hospitals, from a scam where a request to stop the continual collection calls are purposefully sent to the wrong department. Hospitals are then sued and fined for not stopping the calls even though they never received the notice.
An amendment was added reaffirming the Federal Fair Debt Collection Act in attempts to assure the trial attorneys that their clients will not be harassed.
While the amendment states that a certified letter from the debtor’s attorney to the original creditor would be adequate notice, some opponents said that the original creditor could be different from the group now doing the calling, in other words, a collection agency.
