Harassing Debtors Is a Crime in Mexico City Angel Bolanos - The Jornada
go to original May 4, 2014

Harassment by extrajudicial collection firms hired by banks and institutions to demand payment of debts incurred by their clients will be considered crimes and punishable by imprisonment.
 
The Legislative Assembly of the Federal District (ALDF) approved last week an addition to the Penal Code, which defines the offense of unlawful collection, and points out that with the intent to require payment of a debt, either on the debtor or who serves as a reference or endorsement, use illicit means, perform acts of harassment and intimidation shall be liable to imprisonment from six months to two years and a fine of 150 to 300 days of minimum wage, in addition to appropriate sanctions of documentation employing this effect, false stamps or if public or professional functions are usurped.
 
Deputy Olivia Garza de Los Santos, of the Committee on Enforcement and Administration of Justice, advises that in court collection actions taken by such firms when means of coercion and threat are used to obtain payment, those actions are most commonly made by calling at night, dawn or on weekends along with intimidating and threatening letters to the homes of debtors.
 
Translated and edited by Team Angels

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