Is bugging someone for money they owe you harassment?

[single317dad]

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/florida-consumer-collection-practices-act.html

Like the FDCPA, the Florida CCPA covers debt collectors. However, unlike the FDCPA, it also covers original creditors.

Some things that creditors and debt collectors cannot do under the FCCPA include:

pretending to be a police officer and acting on behalf of a government agency
using or threatening to use force or violence
communicating , or threatening to communicate, with your employer about the debt, unless they have taken a judgment against you
if you have disputed the debt, reporting, or threatening to report, derogatory information about a disputed debt to a credit reporting agency without also disclosing the existence of your dispute
contacting third parties about your debt
harrassing you or your family about the debt
contact you between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. without your permission
holding themselves out as attorneys, or misrepresenting to you that an attorney is involved (this is also a potential violation of the FDCPA)
filing a lawsuit against you in the wrong venue (suing you in a distant court to make it difficult for you to defend the lawsuit)
sending you communications, such as forms and “summons” designed to look like attorney letters or government documents
using obscene, profane, vulgar, or abusive language when communicating with you or your family
threatening or attempting to enforce an illegitimate debt against you, such as a debt that has expired under the statute of limitations
knowingly hiring an unlicensed CCA to collect a debt
mailing you documents that contain embarrassing words or phrases on a postcard or envelope, and
communicating directly with you when they know you are represented by an attorney.

The penalties prescribed under FCCPA are civil in nature:

You have a private cause of action if a creditor or debt collector harms you in violation of the FCCPA. This means that you can file a lawsuit in Florida against the collector or creditor. If you win, the court may award to you:
actual damages
statutory damages not to exceed $1,000
possible punitive damages (at the judge's discretion), and
attorney’s fees and court costs

 

[Zigner]

I'll wait for Lat to acknowledge...

 

[justalayman]

Even without that, depending on what "bugging" is, it could rise to criminal harassment. The fact there is a debt involved is irrelevant. Harassment has a definition in criminal law (although not overly well defined usually) and if the bugging exceeds the level described in the laws, yes, the little bugger can be charged with and convicted of harassment.

I suspect there were many situations in New Jersey, New York, chicago, and Las Vegas where the "bugging" did rise to the level of criminal harassment if not worse.