§ 7-3-33. Unreasonable Collection Tactics

No licensee or employee or agent thereof shall willfully use any unreasonable collection tactics. Unreasonable collection tactics shall include, but not be limited to, any conduct by the licensee or any employee or agent thereof which:

1. Causes the borrower or any member of his or her family to suffer bodily injury or physical harm;
2. Constitutes a willful or intentional trespass by force of the borrower’s home or personal property without process of law;
3. Holds up the borrower to public ridicule or unreasonably degrades the borrower in the presence of neighbors or business associates;
4. Involves use of printed material which simulates or resembles a summons, warrant, or other legal process; or
5. Although otherwise lawful, occurs at an unreasonable hour of the night. Attempts to make collections by means of personal visits, telephone calls, and the like shall be deemed to occur at an unreasonable hour of the night if they occur between the hours of 10:00 P.M. and 5:00 A.M.

History. Ga. L. 1964, p. 288, § 6; Code 1981, § 7-3-25 ; Ga. L. 1989, p. 14, § 7; Ga. L. 1997, p. 143, § 7; Code 1981, § 7-3-33 , as redesignated by Ga. L. 2020, p. 156, § 2/SB 462.

The 2020 amendment, effective June 30, 2020, redesignated former Code Section 7-3-25 as present Code Section 7-3-33, and deleted the former subsection (a) designation; in the first sentence, substituted “No licensee or employee or agent thereof shall willfully use any” for “Any license shall be subject to suspension or revocation, after notice and hearing as provided for in Code Section 7-3-24, in the event” at the beginning and deleted “shall be willfully used by the licensee or any employee or agent thereof” following “tactics” at the end; inserted “or her” in paragraph (1); substituted “the borrower” for “him” in paragraph (3); and deleted former subsection (b), which read: “Any order or decision of the Commissioner on the matter of suspension or revocation shall be subject to review as provided for in Code Section 7-3-27.” See Editor’s notes at the beginning of this chapter for applicability.