Blog
Consumer Finance Insights
May 22, 2015

Georgia Federal Court Issues TRO Over Debt Collector’s Text Messages

Authors

​On May 21, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced​​ that its “Messaging for Money” enforcement campaign resulted in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia issuing a temporary restrining order against a debt collecter who allegedly sent threatening text messages to consumers.  The FTC’s complaint, filed on May 11, alleged that the company violated Section 5(a) the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by falsely threatening legal action against consumers, failing to provide required notices, and communicating with consumers’ family members.  The court’s temporary restraining order prohibited further misrepresentations and illegal debt-collection activities, froze the company’s assets,.and gave the FTC immediate access to all of the company’s property and records.