Florida lawsuit: Abusive debt collector calls killed husband:
Tampa, Florida-Stanley McLeod was a man family members say always tried to pay his bills on time.
But, after a massive heart attack, the Sears employee had to quit work and fell behind on his mortgage payment, prompting calls from a debt collector.
"There were about ten to twelve calls a day," says Stanley's wife, Dianne McLeod.
But the calls were far from ordinary. In fact, a first of its kind lawsuit filed by Tampa based law firm Morgan and Morgan alleges the company's calls were so frequent and harassing, McLeod's blood pressure and stress levels shot through the roof, enough to ultimately contribute to his death.
"He'd get very red in the face and short of breath," recalls Mrs. McLeod of the calls her husband would often take while she was at work. "I believe it contributed to his death, I really do."
The McLeod's saved tapes with some of the messages left on their home answering machine. A male debt collector can be heard commenting on the expensive helicopter ride that saved Stanley's life:
"Get your act together and make the payments on your mortgage. Why don't you have that helicopter pick you up and bring that payment to the office."
That recording eventually made its way to Tampa attorney Billy Howard, who heads the consumer protection unit of Florida mega firm Morgan and Morgan.
"They don't care, they just want to make money," said Howard, who says his office has started receiving hundreds of complaints about overly aggressive debt collectors. "No one has held them accountable."
Morgan and Morgan is among a growing list of law firms focusing their attention on debt collection abuse. The company has even produced a commercial urging potential clients to save answering machine recordings if an aggressive debt collector calls.
"It's time to fight back against the banks and debt collectors and make them responsible for their conduct," Howard says. "The way to stop them is in the pocketbook."
The McLeod case is not an isolated one. Howard provided us with a CD full of similar calls, many containing profane language and even racial slurs.
In one of the calls, the debt collector can be heard calling a man the "n-word" after threatening to dig deep into his background.
Howard says while debt collection companies have every right to go after money owed to banks and other companies, a Florida law protects consumers from calls considered harassing.
"You have to do it in a nice manner, period," says Howard, who adds most Floridians don't know their rights in these type cases.
He also adds, in some cases, people don't even owe money, and are either victims of identity theft or mistakes on the part of the collection agency.
"These people are innocent, and they can't get the calls to stop," Howard says.
On one of Howard's cases from July, he says, a debt collector called the best friend of a woman suggesting the friend had died. Ericka Cartagena of Winter Springs says her friend frantically called her brother, throwing her entire family into a panic when they couldn't reach her by phone.
"Everyone thought I was dead!" said an angry Cartagena who, to this day, has no idea why the debt collection company called. She is making payments on a used car, but says she previously made all her payments on time.
She and her attorney believe the statement suggesting her death may have been a mistake, but is often a deliberate attempt by collection companies to prompt an immediate call back from unsuspecting family members.
"To use something like that against somebody is the most egregious collection abuse that is imaginable," Howard says.
A spokesperson for the debt collection industry says he believes cases involving harassment are isolated.
"I think it's the rare exception. Every customer has the right to be treated with dignity and respect," says spokesman Adam Peterman, director of government affairs for the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals (ACA).
But Dianne McLeod says her husband, while still alive, was treated with anything but dignity and respect.
"They humiliated him, they harassed him, and they didn't care," says McLeod. "You know that if things had been handled differently by this company, he may still be here."
Now, she wants to collect, from the company she blames for harassing her husband to death.
In one of the calls, the debt collector can be heard calling a man the "n-word" after threatening to dig deep into his background.
Howard says while debt collection companies have every right to go after money owed to banks and other companies, a Florida law protects consumers from calls considered harassing.
"You have to do it in a nice manner, period," says Howard, who adds most Floridians don't know their rights in these type cases.
He also adds, in some cases, people don't even owe money, and are either victims of identity theft or mistakes on the part of the collection agency.
"These people are innocent, and they can't get the calls to stop," Howard says.
On one of Howard's cases from July, he says, a debt collector called the best friend of a woman suggesting the friend had died. Ericka Cartagena of Winter Springs says her friend frantically called her brother, throwing her entire family into a panic when they couldn't reach her by phone.
"Everyone thought I was dead!" said an angry Cartagena who, to this day, has no idea why the debt collection company called. She is making payments on a used car, but says she previously made all her payments on time.
She and her attorney believe the statement suggesting her death may have been a mistake, but is often a deliberate attempt by collection companies to prompt an immediate call back from unsuspecting family members.
"To use something like that against somebody is the most egregious collection abuse that is imaginable," Howard says.
A spokesperson for the debt collection industry says he believes cases involving harassment are isolated.
"I think it's the rare exception. Every customer has the right to be treated with dignity and respect," says spokesman Adam Peterman, director of government affairs for the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals (ACA).
But Dianne McLeod says her husband, while still alive, was treated with anything but dignity and respect.
"They humiliated him, they harassed him, and they didn't care," says McLeod. "You know that if things had been handled differently by this company, he may still be here."
Now, she wants to collect, from the company she blames for harassing her husband to death.
