What is harassment by a debt collector?

Harassment by a debt collector can come in different forms but examples include repetitious phone calls intended to annoy or abuse, obscene language, and threats of violence.

No harassment

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) says debt collectors can't harass, oppress, or abuse you or anyone else they contact.

Some examples of creditor harassment are: 

• Repetitious phone calls that are intended to annoy, abuse, or harass you or any person answering the phone

• Obscene or profane language

• Threats of violence or harm

• Publishing lists of people who refuse to pay their debts (this does not include reporting information to a credit reporting company)

• Calling you without telling you who they are

You can also sue the debt collector for violations of the FDCPA.  If you sue under the FDCPA and win, the debt collector must generally pay your attorney’s fees and may also have to pay you damages.

No misrepresentations

The FDCPA also says debt collectors can't use false, deceptive, or misleading practices.  This includes misrepresentations about the debt, including:

• The amount owed

• That the person is an attorney if they are not

• False threats to have you arrested

• Threats to do things that cannot legally be done

• Threats to do things that the debt collector has no intention of doing

It is a good idea to keep a file of all letters or documents a debt collector sends you and copies of anything you send to a debt collector. Also, write down dates and times of conversations along with notes about what you discussed. These records can help you if you have a dispute with a debt collector, meet with a bankruptcy lawyer, or go to court.

If you believe a debt collector is harassing you, please call the Law Office of Susan G. Taylor (512) 476-2000. for a FREE consultation.

Private-Equity-Backed Vista Proppants Files for Bankruptcy

Frac-sand supplier, brought down by coronavirus pandemic and slumping oil and gas prices, will use bankruptcy to jettison unprofitable railcar leases

PHOTO: JESSICA LUTZ/REUTERS

By Becky Yerak

June 10, 2020 6:25 pm ET

Vista Proppants & Logistics LLC, a frac-sand supplier backed by investment firms First Reserve Corp. and Ares Capital Corp., has filed for bankruptcy, saying it is facing unprecedented problems due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Vista said the chapter 11 bankruptcy, from which it expects to emerge in about four months, will help it reduce its debt and free itself from dozens of railcar leases that it says it no longer needs.

Proppants are small granular particles, often sand, that are part of the fluid mixture injected into a well to hold open the fractures created during the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The frac-sand sector had already been troubled by a slump in natural-gas and oil prices. Suppliers that filed for bankruptcy last year, also aiming to shed railcar leases, include Shale Support Global Holdings LLC and Emerge Energy Services LP.

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The Covid-19 pandemic compounded Vista’s problems, forcing it to deal with  such logistical challenges as travel restrictions, social-distancing guidelines, business restrictions and local “shelter in place” orders, it said.

Revenue and profits have been insufficient to meet financial obligations, including servicing its debt, and support its capital spending needs, Vista said.

The Fort Worth, Texas, company said it has lined up $11 million in financing from a supportive senior lender group that includes Ares, MSD Partners LP and Angelo Gordon & Co. The financing will help cover costs and limited business operations during the bankruptcy, including paying employees and vendors, Vista said. The lenders will have the right to offer a credit bid for the company, or buy it by forgiving some of its loans.

Vista said it would continue with limited day-to-day operations until the oil-and-gas industry rebounds. Its operations include mining, processing and transporting—with a fleet of 100 vehicles—industrial sand, mostly for oil and gas wells in Texas and Oklahoma. It has 56 employees after having furloughed most of its workforce.

The company’s biggest debt is a roughly $370 million secured term loan. Other debts include almost $16 million owed under a secured asset-based lending facility provided by PlainsCapital Bank.

Energy-focused private-equity firm First Reserve holds a roughly 31% stake in Vista, according to a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth.

Ares Capital Corp., a business-development company managed by private-equity firm Ares Capital Management LLC, owns a small equity stake, around 2%, the filing said.

Ares Capital Corp. also is a senior lender to Vista. The frac-sand supplier has a loan from Ares with a face value of roughly $150 million and a fair value of $71 million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Ares has already written down its $9.7 million common equity investment in Vista to zero, the SEC filing shows.

Vista and six related companies have hired law firm Haynes & Boone LLP. The case, which has been consolidated under number 20-42002, has been assigned to Judge Edward Morris.

Ex-Uber self-driving head files for bankruptcy after being ordered to pay Google $179 million

By Rishi Iyengar and Sara O'Brien, CNN Business

Updated 10:26 PM ET, Thu March 5, 2020

San Francisco (CNN Business)Anthony Levandowski, a former Uber exec who oversaw its self-driving efforts, filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday after being ordered to pay $179 million to Google over violating a contract.

The judgment against Levandowski centered on his employment agreement with Google, which included not holding confidential information and not engaging in "any other employment, occupation or consulting directly related to" any businesses Google was working on. Another contract covering Google's acquisition of two of Levandowski's companies stipulated that he would not try to "encourage, induce [or] solicit" any Google employee to leave the company.

Levandowski "had no choice but to file for bankruptcy to protect his rights as he pursues the relief he is legally entitled to," said Neel Chatterjee, an attorney at Goodwin Procter who represents Levandowski.

Google did not respond to a request for comment.

Levandowski, once a star tech executive, was at the center of a high-profile dispute between Google and Uber in 2017.

Waymo, previously known as Google's self-driving car project, alleged that Levandowski downloaded thousands of confidential files to a personal hard drive before resigning from the company. Levandowski then launched a self-driving truck company, Otto, which Uber purchased in 2016.

Uber fired Levandowski in May 2017 after he failed to meet a deadline to comply with an internal investigation into the allegations raised by the Google lawsuit. Uber and Waymo, Google's self-driving unit, settled the lawsuit in 2018.

"We will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure our confidential information is protected as we build the world's most experienced driver," a spokesperson for Waymo said in a statement.

"This arbitration was not about trade secrets but about employees leaving Google for new opportunities and an engineer being used as a pawn by two tech giants," Chatterjee said in a statement. "Google fought tooth and nail to take back every penny paid to Anthony for his multibillion-dollar contributions and now Uber is refusing to indemnify Anthony despite explicitly agreeing to do so."

Uber said in a securities filing earlier this week that while it has an indemnification agreement with Levandowski, "whether Uber is ultimately responsible for such indemnification is subject to a dispute between the Company and Levandowski." The ride-hailing giant said the resolution of the issue could result "in a possible loss of up to $64 million or more."

A spokesperson for Uber declined to comment beyond the filing.

An arbitration panel had previously issued an "interim award," pegged at $127 million, to Google in its case against Levandowski, but the court on Wednesday added interest payments and legal fees to that amount.

In the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, dated Wednesday, Levandowski said his assets are between $50 million and $100 million.

Levandowski is also facing a federal indictment. He was charged by prosecutors in August with 33 counts of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets from Google.