AI-assisted research summary: A debt collector must not unreasonably publicize a consumer’s debt, and may only make limited exceptions.
No debt collector shall unreasonably publicize information regarding a consumer’s debt. Such unreasonable publication includes, but is not limited to, the following: (1)Any communication with any person other than the debtor or his attorney, except: a.To designated third parties with the written permission of the debtor or his attorney. b.To persons employed by the debt collector, to a credit reporting agency, to a person or business employed to collect the debt on behalf of the creditor, or to a person who makes a legitimate request for the information. c.To the spouse (or one who stands in place of the spouse) of the debtor, or to the parent or guardian of the debtor if the debtor is a minor and lives in the same household with such parent. If the debt collector has a good faith belief that the exception set forth in this sub-subdivision applies to a particular communication, that communication shall not be a violation of this sub-subdivision. d.For the sole purpose of obtaining location information about the debtor, if no indication of indebtedness is made. A debt collector making a communication under this sub-subdivision shall: 1.Identify himself or herself, state that he or she is attempting to confirm or correct location information about the debtor, and, only if expressly requested to do so, identify his or her employer. 2.Not state that the debtor owes a debt. 3.Not communicate with any particular person more than once per week or a total of three times during any 30-day period unless requested to do so by the person. e.Through legal process. (2)Using any form of communication which ordinarily would be seen or heard by any person other than the consumer that displays or conveys any information about the alleged debt other than the name, address and phone number of the debt collector except as otherwise provided in this Article. (3)Disclosing any information relating to a consumer’s debt by publishing or posting any list of consumers, except for credit reporting purposes and the publication and distribution of otherwise permissible “stop lists” to the point-of-sale locations where credit is extended, or by advertising for sale any claim to enforce payment thereof or in any other manner other than through legal process. History: History.1977, c. 747, s. 4; 1979, c. 910; 2015-177, s. 2.