§ 813. Civil liability [15 USC 1692k] (a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, any debt collector who fails to comply with any provision of this title with respect to any person is liable to such person in an amount equal to the sum of -- (1) any actual damage sustained by such person as a result of such failure; (2) (A) in the case of any action by an individual, such additional damages as the court may allow, but not exceeding $1,000; or (B) in the case of a class action, (i) such amount for each named plaintiff as could be recovered under subparagraph (A), and (ii) such amount as the court may allow for all other class members, without regard to a minimum individual recovery, not to exceed the lesser of $500,000 or 1 per centum of the net worth of the debt collector; and (3) in the case of any successful action to enforce the foregoing liability, the costs of the action, together with a reasonable attorney's fee as determined by the court. On a finding by the court that an action under this section was brought in bad faith and for the purpose of harassment, the court may award to the defendant attorney's fees reasonable in relation to the work expended and costs.
and that is for every separate violation... and not exclusionary of the similar penalty under the FCRA; if the violation is a violation of both... however, the same action can't be penalized more than once under the same act; if in the same letter the ca violates about 5 provisions of the FDCPA, they still only committed one 'action' which is able to be penalized for $1,000. Although the number of violations in that one letter could be used to show the judge, that the company willfully violated the FDCPA. so if the violation is a cross FCRA/FDCPA violation; requesting a copy of your credit report after receiving a validation notice (the pp for collection activity is off the table) that violation is worth $1,000 each for a total of $2,000. the ca sends three separate pay now letters after they received the validation letter, thats three separate violations for a total of $3,000. the ca pulls a credit report today on an account under a validation of debts request, and sends out a collection letter tomorrow, that is $3,000 (two for the credit report, one for the letter). the ca admits in writing that their pp was collection activity when it was under a validation from another ca, thats a violation (false representation that the transfer of the account will cause the consumer to be subject to any action prohibited by the FDCPA), $1,000. yes, the law does state not exceeding $1,000; but there are different approaches that i've seen for using the $ penalty for the violations (a) if I have to sue you, you will owe a lot more $ to me than the account is, just close it, mark it as satisfied, and delete it from my reports, and be done with it, and make sure that no one else ever touches the account again. (b) hey, ca, you owe me $4,000.00; but being the nice guy that i am, i'll settle for only, $2,000.00 if you just close it, mark it as satisfied, and delete it from my reports, and be done with it, and make sure that no one else ever touches the account again.
