Melanie Beacham, a Florida woman who had fallen behind in her car payments, was contacted by a debt collector who emailed her, texted her, called her at home, on her cell and at work ? over 23 times in one day.

Things took a turn for the worse when the collector began to send messages to the St. Petersburg woman and her friends via Facebook.

Beacham filed a harassment lawsuit against the company and a judge ruled last month that the company can no longer contact Beacham, her family or friends on Facebook or any other social-networking site.

[READ: What if a dept collector contacted you on Facebook and/or Twitter? VIDEO]

It’s the first court decision of its kind and serves as a warning for debt collectors to tread lightly when using social networks to collect monies owed.

The decision sets a precedence but the original suit, in which Beacham alleges harassment, is still pending in court.

Debt collectors’ use of social media has become a major issue, so much so that other cases are popping up with similar situations.

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