If Shafer Law Firm is calling you, it’s almost certainly because a medical bill, an insurance-denied claim, or a workers’ compensation balance has been placed with them for collection. Shafer is an Atlanta-based debt collection law firm, and its own communications carry the required disclosure that it is attempting to collect a debt. The good news is that federal law gives you a specific set of rights the moment a debt collector contacts you, and using them is how you keep control of what happens next.
Who Shafer Law Firm Is and What They Collect
Shafer Law Firm is a debt collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Its practice is focused on self-pay medical balances, disputed insurance claims, and workers’ compensation accounts. That focus is the answer to the question most people ask when they see the name on their caller ID: the call almost always traces back to a medical provider, a hospital, or an insurer that assigned an unpaid balance to Shafer.
One thing to understand up front. Because Shafer is a law firm and not only a collection agency, it can file lawsuits to collect. Ignoring the calls entirely is a worse strategy here than it would be with a collector that only sends letters.
Verify the Call Before You Say Anything
Scammers routinely impersonate lawyers and debt collectors, and a few signs tell you the person on the phone is not who they claim to be:
- Demands for immediate payment by gift card or wire transfer. No legitimate law firm collects debt this way.
- Threats of arrest. Unpaid civil debt is not a criminal matter.
- Refusal to send anything in writing. A real collector is legally required to.
- Pressure to keep the call secret from your spouse, family, or lawyer.
To verify the firm independently, look up the attorney’s name in your state bar’s online directory, which every state maintains. You can also call Shafer Law Firm back at the number listed on its official website rather than a number the caller gave you.
What to Do on the First Call
The first call tends to catch people off guard, which is part of why it works. A few habits keep you from making mistakes that are hard to undo:
- Get the caller’s name, the firm’s name and address, and the name of the original creditor. Write it down.
- Don’t confirm your Social Security number, bank details, or employer on that first call.
- Ask for written validation of the debt. They have to send it anyway, but saying so signals you know the rules.
- Don’t agree to pay anything, and don’t promise a payment date. You have 30 days to dispute once you get the written notice.
- Pull your records. Medical billing errors are common, and the balance may already have been paid or covered by insurance.
Your Right to a Validation Notice and to Dispute
Within five days of first contacting you, a debt collector has to send a written validation notice showing the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor, and a statement of your right to dispute it within 30 days.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692g – Validation of Debts If you send a written dispute inside that 30-day window, the collector has to stop collection until it sends you verification of the debt.
This is the strongest tool you have early on. A written dispute forces the collector to prove the debt is real, that the amount is right, and that it has the legal right to collect it. Send the dispute by certified mail with return receipt, and keep a copy.
You can still dispute after 30 days. You just lose the automatic pause on collection while they verify.
Limits on How and When They Can Contact You
Debt collectors cannot call before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. in your local time zone without your consent.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692c – Communication in Connection With Debt Collection Regulation F, which implements the FDCPA, treats repeated calling as presumptively harassing: more than seven calls in a seven-day period about the same debt, or a call within seven days after already speaking with you about it, crosses the line.3eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1006 – Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F)
A collector cannot threaten violence, use obscene language, or call to annoy you.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692d – Harassment or Abuse It also cannot lie about the amount you owe, threaten legal action it doesn’t intend to take, falsely claim you’ll be arrested, or pose as a government official.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692e – False or Misleading Representations Every initial communication has to identify the caller as a debt collector.
And your debt is not supposed to be public. A collector generally cannot discuss it with your family, friends, employer, or neighbors; permitted third-party contacts are limited to your attorney, the original creditor and its attorney, and consumer reporting agencies.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692c – Communication in Connection With Debt Collection If Shafer has been talking to people in your life about the debt, document it.
How to Make the Calls Stop
You can force any debt collector to stop contacting you by sending a written cease-communication letter. Once the collector receives it, they can only reach out to confirm they’re stopping collection or to notify you of a specific legal action such as a lawsuit.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692c – Communication in Connection With Debt Collection
Send the letter by certified mail with return receipt, and keep a copy. Understand what the letter does and doesn’t do. It stops the phone calls and the collection letters. It does not erase the debt. The collector can still report the account to the credit bureaus, and if the debt is valid and within the statute of limitations, they can still sue. What you’re buying with the letter is quiet, and the room to figure out your next step.
If They Sue You
Because Shafer is a law firm, filing suit is within the range of what can happen if a debt is not resolved. If you’re served with court papers, the deadline in those papers is the most important thing on your desk. Missing it usually produces a default judgment, meaning the court rules for the creditor without ever hearing your side.
A default judgment unlocks aggressive collection tools. Federal law allows wage garnishment up to a capped percentage of your disposable earnings, and many states cap it lower.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment A judgment creditor can also try to freeze and seize funds in a bank account, subject to your state’s exemption rules.
File a written answer with the court before the deadline in the complaint, which is typically 20 to 30 days in most jurisdictions. In that answer you can raise defenses: the statute of limitations has run, the amount is wrong, the debt isn’t yours, or the collector cannot document the chain of ownership. Many courts offer fee waivers based on income, and legal aid organizations sometimes take debt defense cases.
How Long the Debt and the Credit Hit Can Follow You
Every debt has a statute of limitations, meaning the window in which a creditor can sue to collect. It varies by state and debt type, generally three to six years for medical debt. Once it expires, the debt is time-barred and a collector cannot sue or threaten to sue over it.7eCFR. 12 CFR 1006.26 – Collection of Time-Barred Debts The debt still exists, and you can still be asked to pay voluntarily, but the courthouse door is closed.
Be careful about partial payments or written acknowledgments of old debts. In some states, either can restart the clock and give the collector a fresh window to sue.
Credit reporting runs on its own timer. Most negative items, including collection accounts, can appear on your credit report for up to seven years from the date the account first became delinquent.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports After that, credit bureaus have to remove the entry whether or not the debt was paid.
If They Violated Your Rights
If Shafer or any collector has harassed you, misstated what you owe, called at prohibited hours, discussed the debt with people in your life, or skipped the validation notice, the FDCPA lets you sue. You can recover actual damages, statutory damages of up to $1,000 per lawsuit, and reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs.9Federal Trade Commission. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Text Because attorney’s fees are recoverable, consumer rights lawyers often take these cases on contingency.
You can also file complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission. Save voicemails, log the date and time of every call, and keep every letter and text. Documentation is what turns a bad experience into a viable claim.