Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Laws.
Fair Debt Collection Information
In the late 1970's, the United States of America Congress passed the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, commonly referred to as the FDCPA, into federal law. The FDCPA's purposes entail: promoting fair debt collection, eliminating abusive debt collection practices, and providing consumers the option of disputing debts. If a consumer chooses to dispute a debt (or merely a portion of the debt), then a debt collector must provide verification of that debt according to the FDCPA.
Several states have passed consumer protection and debt collection laws that are based on the FDCPA, which is the strongest and most established debt collection law in the United States. Generally, the FDCPA covers personal, family, and household debts and not debts owed by businesses.
A debt collector, as defined by the FDCPA, is "any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails in any business in which the principal purpose is the collection of any debts, or someone who regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due another." Mostly, the FDCPA applies to third party debt collectors and not internal collectors for an original creditor. Additionally, the FDCPA covers most debt buyers, even though they are essentially collecting their own debts.
Several exceptions have been made to the FDCPA's definition of "debt collector" since the law's inception. For example, attorneys who collect debts on a regular basis were originally exempted, but have since been included.
In order to promote the Fair debt collection Practices Act and prohibit unethical debt collection practices, the FDCPA forbids the following debt collection practices. Debt collectors cannot contact debtors by phone outside the hours of 8:00 am to 9:00 pm local time. Nor can they contact debtors after a letter to the collection agency (written notice) is received, stating that the debtor wishes no further contact or refuses to pay the alleged debt. They also cannot contact debtors at their place of employment after being notified that this is unacceptable and cannot contact a debtor after learning that an attorney now represents the debtor. All contact then goes through that attorney concerning the debt.
Other collection practices banned by the FDCPA include: use of misrepresentation or deceit, publishing the debtor's name or address on a bad debt list, seeking unjustified amounts, threatening arrest or legal action that is not actually permitted, abusive or profane language, contacting by embarrassing media, and, finally threatening to or reporting false information on someone's credit report.
Furthermore, the FDCPA makes several requirements of debt collectors when they make contact with a debtor. In every communication, they must identify themselves by name as a debt collector to the debtor and notify them that the information received will be used in the collection of the debt. They also have a duty to notify the debtor of the right to dispute the debt. Should the debtor dispute the debt and request verification, the debt collector has 30 days after receiving the dispute letter to provide verification. Also, if it is a written request, the debt collector must give the debtor the original creditor's name and address. Finally, if it is required of a debt collector to file a lawsuit during the course of their work, it must be filed within a proper venue.
If an aggrieved debtor feels that their FDCPA rights have been violated, then he or she may pursue the option of filing a private lawsuit in a state or federal court to collect damages from third-party debt collectors.