House Bill hb0109

    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                 HB 109

        By Representative Cantens






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to consumer collection

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

  4         additional prohibited practices in collecting

  5         consumer debts; providing penalties; amending

  6         s. 559.77, F.S.; revising civil remedies;

  7         providing for increased statutory damages under

  8         certain circumstances; providing for absence of

  9         liability under certain circumstances;

10         specifying a time certain for bringing certain

11         actions; providing an effective date.

12

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

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

16  559.72, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsections (18)

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

18         559.72  Prohibited practices generally.--In collecting

19  consumer debts, no person shall:

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

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

22  outside of the envelope or postcard calculated to embarrass

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

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

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

26  9 p.m. and 8 a.m. in the debtor's time zone without the prior

27  consent of the debtor;.

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

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

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

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

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                 HB 109

    702-136-01






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

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

  3  consents to direct communication with the debtor; or

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

  5  communications by concealment of the true purpose of the

  6  communication, including collect telephone calls and telegram

  7  fees.

  8         Section 2.  Section 559.77, Florida Statutes, is

  9  amended to read:

10         559.77  Civil remedies.--

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

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

13  jurisdiction of the county in which the alleged violator

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

15  the county wherein the alleged violation occurred.

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

17  liable for actual damages and for additional statutory damages

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

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

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

21  additional statutory damages, the court shall consider the

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

23  frequency and persistence of such noncompliance, and the

24  extent to which such noncompliance was intentional. In any

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

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

27  named plaintiff, and an aggregate award of additional

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

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

30  members. The court may, in its discretion, award punitive

31  damages and may provide such equitable relief as it deems

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                 HB 109

    702-136-01






  1  necessary or proper, including enjoining the defendant from

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

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

  4  plaintiff shall be liable for court costs and reasonable

  5  attorney's fees incurred by the defendant.

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

  7  brought under this section if the person shows by a

  8  preponderance of the evidence that the violation was not

  9  intentional and resulted from a bona fide error

10  notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably

11  adapted to avoid any such error.

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

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

14  violation occurred.

15         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2001,

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

17  date.

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19            *****************************************

20                          HOUSE SUMMARY

21
      Prohibits, in collecting consumer debts, communicating
22    with a debtor who is represented by an attorney and
      causing charges to be made to a debtor for communications
23    by concealing the true purpose of the communications.
      Revises civil remedies provisions to provide for
24    additional statutory damages, immunity from liability,
      and a time certain for bringing actions. See bill for
25    details.

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