HOUSTON -- Note: The following story is a verbatim transcript of an Investigators story that aired on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007, on KPRC Local 2 at 10 p.m.

Harassment, threats and lies are just some of the tactics Local 2 Investigates has discovered some bully debt collectors use to get money you may not even owe.

As Americans spiral deeper into debt, the debt collection business is booming.

Investigative reporter Amy Davis found some consumers fighting back.

The Federal Trade Commission is the agency that regulates debt collectors.

The FTC received more complaints about debt collectors than it received against all other industries last year.

But some consumers aren't stopping once they make those complaints. They're taking their cases to court.

The following transcript is not from a prank phone call.

Debt Collector: "Whatever way you want to handle this thing, you handle it, but as of today, I'm going to handle it my way."

Consumer: "I'm going to make sure my rights are not violated."

Debt Collector: "No, no, you going to get violated, sir."

A Houston man recorded the call from a Dallas debt collector.

Debt collector: "What I'm going to do? I know where you're at. I'm going to have my investigators come to your place of employment and drag you out, OK? Good day, big guy."

Consumer attorney Dana Karni says those types of threats are not allowed, but she hears about debt collectors breaking federal laws and getting away with it on a daily basis.

"Some consumers don't know that they have rights," Karni said.

Evelyn Turner was one of those consumers.

"I thought I was going to lose my kids. I thought I was going to lose my family," Turner said.

Turner's husband was out of the country working in Iraq when an aggressive debt collector called demanding payment for a Dell computer purchased five years earlier.

Turner says the collector told her she was going to go to jail for not paying her debts. But Turner thought she had already paid that bill.

In good faith, she wrote a post-dated check to the collection agency, asking them to give her time to look at her records and talk with her husband.

When she found her receipts indicating Dell had been paid, she cancelled the check. That only seemed to anger the collector more.

"He was calling all hours of the day and night," Turner said. "I asked him not to call at work, not to call at home. And he continued on and on."

Until one day the debt collector helped himself. Using that post-dated check, he managed to withdraw funds from the Turner's bank account to the tune of $1,800.

The unexpected withdrawal caused other payments to bounce and left the Turners with $600 in overdraft fees.

"None of this was her fault," said Karni.

Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, third-party debt collectors cannot harass or make threats of legal action, wage garnishment or tell a consumer they'll be arrested. There is no debtors prison in Texas.

But Karni said she knows some collectors use their own set of rules when calling consumers.

"Can they kind of feel that they're dealing with a consumer that they can harass and get away with it?" Karni said.

Debt Collector: "Uh, hello. This is Marvin Nelson."

The debt collector who left this message on an answering machine paid the consumer $17,000 in court.

Karni sued him for violating federal and state laws that ban debt collectors from stating that failure to pay debts is a crime.

Debt Collector: "Um, (consumer's name undisclosed) has a problem here in my office -- namely looks like about one, two, three -- looks like about three different hot check warrants."

In fact, there were no outstanding warrants for the consumer. That didn't stop the collector.

Debt Collector: "Uh, obviously we're trying to reach her before I process them."

Going to court is paying off for many consumers, who see it as their only option to get bully debt collectors off their backs.

What most consumers don't realize is that suing a collector usually won't cost you a dime.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act says that the collection agency in violation will have to pay your attorney's fees and $1,000 for every violation of the act.

The law applies to third party debt collectors. If the collector calling you can't provide documentation proving that you owe the debt, you are not legally obligated to pay it.

Local 2 Investigates submitted an Open Records Request to the Texas Attorney General's Office asking for the debt collection agencies with the most complaints filed against them. The following is the list we received for all complaints filed from Jan. 1, 2002, through Oct. 5, 2006:

NCO Financial Systems, Inc.	377
Allied Interstate Inc.	198
Credit Protection Association	157
Capital Acquisitions & Management Co.	136
ProCollect	134
GC Services	131
Asset Acceptance LLC	129
Business Office Systems and Solutions	128
Risk Management Alternatives, Inc.	124
LTD Financial Services, L.P.	116

Local 2 Investigates submitted Freedom of Information Request to the Federal Trade Commission asking for the debt collection agencies with the most complaints filed against them. The following is the list we received for all complaints filed from Jan. 1, 2003, through Jan. 4, 2006:

Capital One	600
Cross Country Bank	364
Dell Financial Services	347
Verizon Wireless	333
Sprint PCS	324
Chrysler Financial	319
Sears	278
Cingular Wireless	246
American Express	226
Americredit	226

More Information:

Federal Trade Commission
Texas Attorney General's Office
Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner