Florida lawsuit alleges debt collection harassment contributed to man’s death

A recently filed lawsuit in Florida alleges that debt collection harassment contributed to a man’s death. According to a Tampa news story, when Stanley McLeod had to quit his job because of a heart attack, he fell behind on his mortgage and other bills. Predictably, McLeod began receiving calls from debt collectors. According to the story, the calls were so frequent and harassing, that McLeod’s blood pressure and stress levels increased dramatically, ultimately contributing to his death. The story quotes McLeod’s wife as saying that there were 10 to 12 calls a day and that the calls upset McLeod so much that he would get very red in the face and short of breath. One of the voice messages left by the debt collector attempted to humiliate McLeod by sarcastically commenting on the emergency helicopter ride that McLeod endured after the heart attack that led to his job loss. According to the story, the message told McLeod to “[g]et 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.” McLeod’s wife remarked that “[t]hey humiliated him, they harassed him, and they didn’t care. You know that if things had been handled differently by this company, he may still be here.”

This this type of debt collection harassment is not only illegal under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), but it is simply inhumane. Some may argue that McLeod will never be able to prove that the debt collector’s harassment medically contributed to his death. While this may very well be true, it misses the point. No person should ever be harassed and humiliated in this manner simply because they owe a debt. Using this type of extreme harassment and abuse just to collect a few dollars is despicable.

More recordings show pattern of debt collectors making abusive calls (via Consumerist)