Abusive Debt Collectors Beware: Rep. Grady & Attorney General Bill McCollum Team Up to Protect Floridians
Rep. Tom Grady (R – Naples) and Attorney General Bill McCollum watched their hard work pay off this afternoon.
Today, the Governor signed off of Rep. Grady’s Debt Collection Bill, which makes it easier for Attorney General McCollum to pursue people’s complaints against abusive debt collectors.
“Times are tough, and some Florida families have had to make difficult choices as their bills mount. But they should not have to go through the abuse and harassment that we’ve seen time and time again from some of the debt collecting agencies,” said Grady.
After hearing horror stories of dealing with rogue debt collectors, Rep. Grady and Attorney General McCollum worked together to craft the legislation.
“The complaints were coming in, but often times, there was only so much the Attorney General’s office could do to help out.” Grady adds, “These complaints weren’t your run of the mill annoying phone calls. Some collectors have been accused of threatening violence. Others pretended to be detectives, claiming someone in debt would be arrested unless a payment was made immediately.”
Grady says he understands the need to collect on debt, but “some of these collectors crossed the line.” He adds, “With this bill, Attorney General McCollum will have more power to crack down on abusive collectors and bring a case against them.”
The bill also clarifies that the Attorney General can pursue out-of-state, as well as in-state debt collection agencies engaged in bad behavior.
Last year, Grady teamed up with Attorney General McCollum to beef up the Florida Securities and Investor Protection Act, which Grady, a securities attorney, knows quite a bit about. That law – now on the books – will make it much more difficult for swindlers like Bernie Madoff to fleece Florida investors.
Similarly, this year, Grady also sponsored legislation supported by the Attorney General to make it more difficult for offshore banks to do business in Florida, except on the very same terms as our own banks must obey. “It is wrong for a bank, such as the government owned bank of Venezuela, to conduct business in Florida and have a regulatory advantage over our own banks – at our citizens’ risk.” said Grady.
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