795.11. Prohibited debt collection practices.

   In the course of engaging in debt collection, a debt collector shall not:

   (a)   Threaten physical violence to the person or property of another;

   (b)   Falsely, wrongfully or maliciously accuse any person of fraud or crime, or threaten to cause the arrest of any person when no such right exists;

   (c)   Threaten to enforce a substantive or remedial right with knowledge that the right does not exist;

   (d)   Communicate with the debtor or person related to him with such frequency or at extremely inconvenient hours or in such a manner as can reasonably be expected to abuse or harass him;

   (e)   Make, or threaten to make, false accusations to another person, including any credit reporting agency, that a consumer is willfully refusing to pay a bona fide debt when the debt collector has knowledge of any defense to the claim;

   (f)   Communicate or threaten to communicate with a person's employer with respect to a delinquent indebtedness, other than for the sole purposes of verifying that person's employment, income, pay period or home address, except that communication is not prohibited when such person works for an employer which by law exempts his wages from garnishment. Nothing herein shall prohibit a debt collector from answering questions asked of the debt collector expressly and without solicitation by the consumer's employer, or from communication without any restrictions with employers after judgment. This subsection shall not apply to any person whose primary activity is the gathering of information, who does not directly collect debts and who is not an employee of one who collects debts;

   (g)   Use or distribute for sale any written communication which is falsely represented to be a document authorized, issued or approved by a court, a public official or any other legally constituted or authorized authority, or which would appear to be such to a person of ordinary intelligence;

   (h)   Make any false representation or implication that any debt collector is vouched for, bonded by or affiliated with any person, or an instrumentality, agent or official of this City or State or any agency of the Federal, State or local government;

   (i)   Disclose, publish or communicate information relating to a consumer's indebtedness other than the mere existence of a debt to any relative or family member of the consumer other than a person having a lawful obligation to pay the debt, except through proper legal action or process or at the express and unsolicited request of the relative or family member. Nothing herein shall prohibit a debt collector from answering questions asked of him expressly and without solicitation by the relative or family member or from communication with any person present in the household of the consumer;

   (j)   Cause expense to any person in the form of long distance telephone tolls, telegram fees or other charges incurred by a medium of communication by concealment of the true purpose of the notice, letter, message or communication, provided that the total expense is less than one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00);

   (k)   Disclose, publish or communicate any information relating to a consumer's indebtedness to any other person (except credit reporting agencies and their customers, check services and their customers, credit card service companies and their customers, trade association members and internally within a corporation, its affiliates and subsidiaries) by general publication or posting any list of consumers, commonly known as "deadbeat lists" unless such information is a matter of public record, or in any other manner other than through proper legal action, process or proceeding;

   (l)   Represent that an existing obligation of the consumer may be increased by the addition of attorney's fees, court costs, interest, investigation fees, service fees or any other fees or charges when in fact, such fees or charges may not legally be added to the existing obligation, or unless a court has actually added such fees or charges in a final judgment;

   (m)   Seek or obtain any written statement or acknowledgement in any form containing an affirmation of any obligation by a consumer who has been declared bankrupt, without clearly disclosing both orally and in writing the nature and consequences of such affirmation and the fact that the consumer is not legally obligated to make such affirmation;

   Nothing in this section shall deprive any person from making a complaint of a violation of any State or Federal law, or prohibit the Chief Inspector from referring complaints to the appropriate licensing authority or regulatory agency.

(1952 Code § 26-7-71)

795.12. False statements.

   No person shall wilfully make a false or misleading statement relative to any matter regulated by this chapter.

(1952 Code § 26-7-80)

795.13. Confidentiality.

   Any records or other information furnished to or obtained by the Chief Inspector or his employees which are certified in writing by the person involved to be confidential because it relates to a bona fide trade secret unique to the person involved, shall be used only in the administration of this chapter and shall be considered as confidential. All such information shall not be made available to the general public, nor disclosed without the prior written consent of the person responsible; however, this shall not be construed to prevent the release of information to other governmental agencies, the use of such information in the compilation of studies relating to consumer protection or to the complete release of all matters determined to be public records of hearings and appeals.

(1952 Code § 26-7-81)

795.14. Service of notice.

   (a)   Service of any written notice or orders issued pursuant to this chapter shall be by certified mail, return receipt requested, directed to the last known address of the person to be notified, or delivered personally in the same manner as a summons in a civil action, or by posting such order on or near the entrance to the premises wherein the violations have occurred, if the whereabouts of such person is then unknown.

   (b)   Service of any written notices required by this chapter shall be made upon the Chief Inspector personally or by certified mail directed to: Chief Inspector, Weights and Measures/Consumer Protection, City of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, 43624.

(1952 Code § 26-7-82)

795.15. Exclusions.

   This chapter does not apply to:

   (a)   An act or practice required or specifically permitted by or under Federal or State law, or by or under other sections of the Codified Ordinances.

   (b)   A publisher, broadcaster, printer or other person engaged in the dissemination of information or the reproduction of printed or pictorial matter insofar as the information or matter has been disseminated or reproduced in behalf of others without knowledge that it violated this chapter.

(1952 Code § 26-7-83)

795.16. No liability for bona fide error.

   In any case arising under this chapter, if a supplier shows by a preponderance of the evidence that a violation resulted from a bona fide error notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adopted to avoid the error, no liability is imposed.

(1952 Code § 26-7-84)

795.17. Organization criminal liability.

   (a)   An organization may be convicted of an offense for a violation of this chapter under any of the circumstances contained in Section 501.11.

   (b)   An officer, agent or employee of an organization, as defined in Section 501.11 (d), may be prosecuted for a violation of this chapter when committed under the circumstances contained in Section 501.12.

(1952 Code § 26-7-85)

795.18. Jurisdiction and venue.

   The provisions of Sections 501.05 and 501.13 shall be applicable to the enforcement of all violations of this chapter.

(1952 Code § 26-7-92; Ord. 58-75)