consumer-harm-documentation · diff
v0.1.0 to v0.1.1
16 added, 28 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: consumer-harm-documentation
description: >
- Use this skill to help a consumer build the documentation and
- evidence record that underpins a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) or
- related consumer claim and drives settlement value — capturing
- violations, lies, and the concrete and emotional harm caused by
- inaccurate reporting or unlawful collection. Triggers include
- "document my damages", "prove harm", "record the call", "can I
- record the collector", "they hung up on me", "they refused to let me
- record", "track my postage and time", "communication log", "harm
- log", "damages worksheet", "emotional distress evidence", "Apple
- Watch health data", "wearable data for my claim", "doctor letter for
- stress", "written breakdown from the creditor", "how much was I
- harmed", "settlement value". Covers logging every communication with
- creditors / collectors / CRAs, the state-by-state call-recording
- consent rules (one-party vs. all-party — verify before recording),
- capturing refusals-to-record and hang-ups as bad-faith evidence,
- filming online portal/chat interactions, the harm taxonomy (higher
- interest, credit/service denials, insurance hikes, job and
- tenant-screening denials, time and postage via a dedicated "firm
- books" mailing log), saving statements and requesting written cost
- breakdowns from creditors, and documenting emotional / physiological
- distress via providers or wearables (including converting wearable
- health data into a harm declaration with Claude). Produces
- communication logs, harm/damages ledgers, and harm-declaration
- scaffolds. Composes with consumer-report-ordering,
- consumer-credit-disputes, consumer-report-accuracy,
- consumer-credit-monitoring, the state *-consumer-debt bundles, and
- the state *-pro-se skills.
- version: 0.1.0
+ Use this skill to build documentation and evidence for FCRA or
+ consumer claims. Triggers include "document my damages", "prove
+ harm", "record the call", "they hung up on me", "track postage
+ and time", "communication log", "harm log", "damages worksheet",
+ "emotional distress", "wearable data", "written breakdown from
+ creditor", "settlement value". Covers logging communications,
+ call-recording consent rules (verify by state), capturing hang-ups
+ as bad-faith evidence, filming online interactions, harm taxonomy
+ (higher interest, denials, insurance hikes, "firm books" log),
+ requesting cost breakdowns, and documenting emotional distress.
+ Produces communication logs, harm ledgers, and harm-declaration
+ scaffolds. Composes with consumer-report-ordering, consumer-
+ credit-disputes, consumer-report-accuracy, consumer-credit-
+ monitoring, state *-consumer-debt bundles, and state *-pro-se.
+ version: 0.1.2
+ version: 0.1.1
---
# Consumer Harm Documentation & Evidence
> **NOT LEGAL ADVICE.** This skill produces drafting aids and checklists. It is not legal advice
> and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Verify every deadline, dollar threshold,
> and statutory citation against current law before relying on or filing anything.
## Purpose
Claims succeed and settlements rise on **documentation**. The same facts are worth far more with a
clean evidence trail than without one. This skill captures two things: **violations** (what the
creditor, collector, or CRA did wrong) and **harm** (what it cost the consumer — in money, time,
and well-being).
Statutory text: [`../../references/federal-debt-laws/FCRA.md`](../../references/federal-debt-laws/FCRA.md)
(and `FDCPA.md` for collection-conduct violations).
## Recording communications
Record and preserve **every** communication with creditors, collectors, and credit reporting
agencies — calls, letters, portal messages, chats.
> **Call-recording consent varies by state.** Some states allow **one-party** consent (the consumer
> alone may record); others require **all-party** consent (every participant must consent). **Verify
> the rule for the relevant state before recording a call** — route this to the applicable state
> plugin / `*-pro-se` skill. When in doubt, **announce the recording** ("this call is being
> recorded") to satisfy all-party regimes.
- **Capture the bad acts that prove themselves:** a collector who **refuses to be recorded**, talks
over the notice, or **hangs up** has handed the consumer evidence of bad faith or deceptive
practice — note the date, time, name, and what was said.
- **Film online interactions.** Screen-record or screenshot dispute portals and chat sessions so
the record isn't just the company's version.
## The harm taxonomy
Document each category that applies, with proof:
| Harm | Proof to gather |
|---|---|
| Higher interest rate | Loan/card statements showing the rate; a **written breakdown requested from the creditor** |
| Credit / service **denial** | Adverse-action / denial letters (from `consumer-report-ordering`) |
| **Insurance** premium increase | Renewal notices, premium comparisons (tie to the C.L.U.E. report) |
| **Job** denial | Employer adverse-action notice citing a background/credit report |
| **Eviction / tenant-screening** error | The screening report + denial; corrected report |
| **Time & postage** spent disputing | A dedicated **"firm books"** mailing log — every certified-mail receipt, postage cost, and hours spent |
- **Save statements and request written cost breakdowns** from creditors to quantify the extra cost
caused by the misreporting — concrete dollar figures move settlements.
## Emotional & physiological harm
Emotional distress is compensable and affects settlement value. Document it concretely:
- **Providers:** treatment notes, a letter from a doctor or therapist tying stress/anxiety to the
events.
- **Wearables / health devices:** data from an Apple Watch or similar device (elevated heart rate,
disrupted sleep) around the dates of the denials/collection contacts can corroborate distress.
Present it neutrally as **evidence a drafter cites**, not as a medical diagnosis.
- **Claude as a drafting aid:** wearable health-data exports can be summarized and folded into a
**harm-declaration scaffold** here — the consumer reviews, verifies, and signs it. The skill
drafts; it does not diagnose.
## Artifacts this skill drafts
- **Communication log** — chronological record of every contact (date, time, party, channel, who
said what, whether recorded, refusals/hang-ups).
- **Harm/damages ledger** — one row per harm with category, dollar amount, supporting document, and
a postage-and-time ("firm books") section.
- **Harm-declaration scaffold** — a sworn-declaration skeleton (financial, time, and emotional/
physiological harm) for the consumer to verify and sign; routes formatting/verification language
to the state `*-draft-declaration` / `*-pro-se` skill.
Each artifact ends with the `NOT LEGAL ADVICE` disclaimer.
## Related federal authority
- **ECOA § 1691(d) + Reg B § 1002.9** —
[`../../references/federal-debt-laws/ECOA.md`](../../references/federal-debt-laws/ECOA.md) /
[`../../references/federal-debt-laws/Reg-B.md`](../../references/federal-debt-laws/Reg-B.md).
The **denial letter** that proves harm is an adverse-action notice governed by ECOA / Reg B (not
only FCRA § 1681m) — preserve it and document the missing/late notice as its own violation.
- **Reg V §§ 1022.70–1022.75 (12 CFR Part 1022)** —
[`../../references/federal-debt-laws/Reg-V.md`](../../references/federal-debt-laws/Reg-V.md).
The **risk-based-pricing notice** rules are the mechanism behind the "higher interest rate" harm
— cite them when documenting increased borrowing cost.
- **FDCPA** —
[`../../references/federal-debt-laws/FDCPA.md`](../../references/federal-debt-laws/FDCPA.md) — for
the collection-conduct violations (false statements, threats, § 1692e(8) disputed-debt reporting)
captured in the communication log.
## Composition
- Denial letters and non-delivery come from **`consumer-report-ordering`**.
- Dispute/complaint proof is preserved alongside the **`consumer-credit-disputes`** trail.
- Collection-conduct violations → the state **`*-consumer-debt`** bundle (FDCPA/Reg F).
- Declaration formatting + verification language → the state **`*-draft-declaration`** and
**`*-pro-se`** skills.
- Clear harm is the lever for the data-breach / private-suit posture in **`consumer-credit-monitoring`**.