§ 14-202. Certain acts prohibited

   In collecting or attempting to collect an alleged debt a collector may not:

   (1) Use or threaten force or violence;

   (2) Threaten criminal prosecution, unless the transaction involved the violation of a criminal statute;

   (3) Disclose or threaten to disclose information which affects the debtor's reputation for credit worthiness with knowledge that the information is false;

   (4) Except as permitted by statute, contact a person's employer with respect to a delinquent indebtedness before obtaining final judgment against the debtor;

   (5) Except as permitted by statute, disclose or threaten to disclose to a person other than the debtor or his spouse or, if the debtor is a minor, his parent, information which affects the debtor's reputation, whether or not for credit worthiness, with knowledge that the other person does not have a legitimate business need for the information;

   (6) Communicate with the debtor or a person related to him with the frequency, at the unusual hours, or in any other manner as reasonably can be expected to abuse or harass the debtor;

   (7) Use obscene or grossly abusive language in communicating with the debtor or a person related to him;

   (8) Claim, attempt, or threaten to enforce a right with knowledge that the right does not exist; or

   (9) Use a communication which simulates legal or judicial process or gives the appearance of being authorized, issued, or approved by a government, governmental agency, or lawyer when it is not.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 83, § 167; 1975, ch. 49, § 3.