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TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today sent a letter to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, asking for expanded authority to bring civil lawsuits against abusive debt collectors. The draft legislative language would make certain debt collector practices a "per se" violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (F.S. Ch. 501 Part II), providing a clear basis for pursuing civil litigation.

"As Attorney General, I am willing to go above and beyond what the law currently requires so that people who have complained about abusive practices by debt collectors may finally get some relief," said Attorney General McCollum.

Identifying an act or practice in Florida's debt collection statute, F.S. Ch. 559, as a per se violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) will allow the Attorney General, as an enforcing authority of FDUTPA, to pursue a violation of the debt collection act as unfair or deceptive without having to prove separately unfairness or deception. Any violation of F.S. Ch. 559 would also constitute a violation of FDUTPA.

The Attorney General’s Office has been working with Senator Garrett Richter (R-Naples), who is the Chair of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, on this legislative proposal.

To further address the issue of abusive debt collectors, the Attorney General has instructed his staff to work with the Office of Financial Regulation to develop a better complaint referral system so that the agency will not only receive information from consumers, but also copies of any complaints the Attorney General’s Office receives directly. This will supplement the current process of responding directly to each citizen with referral information. A joint task force staffed by the Attorney General’s Office and the Office of Financial Regulation will further refine the processes for triage, notification and follow-up related to future complaints.

In addition to the legislative request and the refinement of the consumer referral system, the Attorney General’s Office will begin working directly with other state Attorneys General to provide complaints about debt collection agencies operating outside of Florida to the state in which the company is located. The Attorney General’s Office is also currently pursuing 13 investigations, two of which have been active since 2007.

A copy of the letters sent to the Legislative leadership is available online at: http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/MRAY-7XFJ95/$file/LettertoLegislature.pdf