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The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)

The purpose of the the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is to protect consumers from abusive debt collection practices, promote fair debt collection, and provide consumers with an avenue for disputing and obtaining validation of debt information in order to ensure the information's accuracy.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces the FDCPA. Under the FDCPA, a debt collector is someone who regularly collects debts owed to others. This could include debt collection agencies, attorneys who collect debt on a regular basis, and companies that buy delinquent debt and then try to collect on it. The following are practices and examples of those practices that debt collectors cannot use.

  • Harassment—Debt collectors may not harass, oppress, or abuse you or any third parties they contact. Harassment includes
    • Using threats of violence or harm
    • Publishing a list of names of people who refuse to pay their debts
    • Use obscene or profane language
    • Repeatedly calling your phone throughout the day
  • False statements—They cannot lie when trying to collect a debt. This includes
    • Claiming they are attorneys or government representatives
    • Claiming that you have committed a crime
    • Claiming that they work for a credit reporting company
    • Lying about the amount you owe
    • Claiming that the documents they are sending you are legal documents when they are not
    • Claiming that the documents they are sending you are not legal documents when they are
  • Other statements they cannot make are
    • Saying you will be arrested if you don't pay your debt
    • Threatening to seize, garnish, or sell your property or wages unless they are permitted by law to take the action and intend to do so
    • Threatening that legal action will be taken against you if doing so would be illegal or if they don't intend to take the action
  • Actions they cannot take are
    • Giving false credit information about you to anyone
    • Calling you if they know you are being represented by an attorney
    • Calling any time other than between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. local time
    • Sending anything that looks like an official court or governmental document unless it is actually from one of those agencies
    • Using a false company name
    • Contacting you by post card

Facts About Debt Collection

If you want to cease communications from a debt collector, you can send a letter asking the collector to stop. Send the letter via certified mail to ensure you have proof of the communication. It will be important to know that you can still be contacted for two reasons. The first is to tell you that the debt collector is no longer going to be contacting you, and the other is to let you know that the creditor is going to be taking a specific action, like a lawsuit.

Every debt collector has to provide you with a written validation notice telling you how much you owe within 5 days of first contacting you. You can send a debt verification letter to the debt collector within 30 days of receiving the written validation notice. If the collector doesn't respond, the contact with you must end. However, if the collector does respond with some form of verification, the collection process can be continued.

Debt collectors can sue in order to collect on the debt. If a debt collector wins a lawsuit, the court will enter a judgment against you. The judgment will explain how much you owe and will allow the creditor to get a garnishment order against you.

If a debt collector does violate the law, you have recourse. You can sue the collector within 1 year of the date the law was violated. You can sue for damages up to $1,000, even if you cannot prove damages were suffered. You can also have your attorney or court fees reimbursed. It is also recommended that you report any alleged violation with your state attorney general's office, the FTC, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Workplace Options. (Reviewed 2017). The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) (A. Moyer, Ed.). Raleigh, NC: Author.

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