House Bill 0467c1

    Florida House of Representatives - 2000              CS/HB 467

        By the Committee on Real Property & Probate and
    Representatives Goodlette, Greenstein and Gottlieb





  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to consumer collection

  3         practices; amending s. 559.72, F.S.;

  4         prohibiting certain communications with a

  5         debtor's attorney; prohibiting the causing of

  6         charges to be made to any debtor; providing

  7         penalties; amending s. 559.77, F.S.; increasing

  8         the maximum amount of civil penalties;

  9         providing an effective date.

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11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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13         Section 1.  Subsections (16) and (17) of section

14  559.72, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsections (18)

15  and (19) are added to said section, to read:

16         559.72  Prohibited practices generally.--In collecting

17  consumer debts, no person shall:

18         (16)  Mail any communication to a debtor in an envelope

19  or postcard with words typed, written, or printed on the

20  outside of the envelope or postcard calculated to embarrass

21  the debtor.  An example of this would be an envelope addressed

22  to "Deadbeat, Jane Doe" or "Deadbeat, John Doe"; or

23         (17)  Communicate with the debtor between the hours of

24  9 p.m. and 8 a.m. in the debtor's time zone without the prior

25  consent of the debtor;.

26         (18)  Communicate with a debtor if the person knows the

27  debtor is represented by an attorney with respect to such debt

28  and has knowledge of, or can readily ascertain, such

29  attorney's name and address, unless the debtor's attorney

30  fails to respond within a reasonable period of time to a

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2000              CS/HB 467

    605-147A-00






  1  communication from the person or unless the debtor's attorney

  2  consents to direct communication with the debtor; or

  3         (19)  Cause charges to be made to any debtor for

  4  communications by concealment of the true purpose of the

  5  communication, including collect telephone calls and telegram

  6  fees.

  7         Section 2.  Section 559.77, Florida Statutes, is

  8  amended to read:

  9         559.77  Civil remedies.--

10         (1)  A debtor may bring a civil action against a person

11  violating the provisions of s. 559.72 in a court of competent

12  jurisdiction of the county in which the alleged violator

13  resides or has his or her principal place of business or in

14  the county wherein the alleged violation occurred.

15         (2)  Upon adverse adjudication, the defendant shall be

16  liable for actual damages and for additional statutory damages

17  of up to $1,000 or $500, whichever is greater, together with

18  court costs and reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the

19  plaintiff. In determining the defendant's liability for any

20  additional statutory damages, the court shall consider the

21  nature of the defendant's noncompliance with s. 559.72, the

22  frequency and persistence of such noncompliance, and the

23  extent to which such noncompliance was intentional. In any

24  class action lawsuit brought under this section, the court may

25  award additional statutory damages of up to $1,000 for each

26  named plaintiff, and an aggregate award of additional

27  statutory damages not to exceed the lesser of $500,000 or 1

28  percent of the defendant's net worth for all remaining class

29  members. The court may not, in its discretion, award punitive

30  damages, but and may provide such equitable relief as it deems

31  necessary or proper, including enjoining the defendant from

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000              CS/HB 467

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  1  further violations of this part.  If the court finds that the

  2  suit fails to raise a justiciable issue of law or fact, the

  3  plaintiff shall be liable for court costs and reasonable

  4  attorney's fees incurred by the defendant.

  5         (3)  A person shall not be held liable in any action

  6  brought under this section if the person shows by a

  7  preponderance of the evidence that the violation was not

  8  intentional and resulted from a bona fide error

  9  notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably

10  adapted to avoid any such error.

11         (4)  An action brought under this section must be

12  commenced within 2 years after the date on which the alleged

13  violation occurred.

14         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2000,

15  and applies to any cause of action accruing on or after that

16  date.

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