If you owe creditors money, you probably are upset about it. Most of the time people find themselves in that situation because they are unable to make the payments. When creditors start calling, asking about what is owed, it can make an already difficult situation even worse. If the calls are made repeatedly you may feel as if you are trapped and cannot get away. You may not be aware that there are laws in place to prevent this harassment. If creditors break those laws you may be able to take legal action against them. A Philadelphia woman is doing that very thing.
The woman recently filed a lawsuit against Comcast. The basis of the lawsuit is that the cable company violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Initially designed to restrict telemarketing calls, several years ago the law was amended to include provisions regarding when an automatic telephone dialing system can call a cell phone. The person who the number being called belongs to must agree to the activity ahead of time. According to the woman, she did not provide Comcast with permission to take this action.
She said that despite requesting that Comcast stop calling her, she would get seven or eight calls a day. Some days she said it was even more. In addition to being irritating, the woman is frustrated because she has to pay for incoming calls, causing great expense. The final straw is that the woman says she is being harassed for money that she already paid—in 2011.
If the woman succeeds she could secure statutory damages. Comcast could have to pay between $500 and $1,500 per telephone call.