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FDCPA Prohibits Debt Collector Harassment
FDCPA stands for the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, a consumer law designed to protect you from abusive, unfair or deceptive debt collecting practices. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.
If you have credit card debt, vehicle loans, student loans, a mortgage, medical bills or other household debts, those are all covered by the FDCPA, but business debts are not covered. The federal law protects consumers from illegal, harassing debt collection practices, but millions of consumers still become victims of abusive debt collectors.
If the debt is not even yours, you may receive an undeserved negative impact on your credit report.
A lawsuit can hold the debt collector responsible for unethical, illegal and unfair debt collection tactics.
FDCPA Protections for Debtors
Debt collectors must follow a number of strict restrictions on contacting debtors. They are not allowed to call before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. without your giving them permission to do so. Even then, they are not allowed to harass you by making repeated calls back to back.
Phone calls, letters, emails and text messages may be used by debt collectors in their attempts to collect a debt, but you are allowed to request they stop contacting you. The FTC suggests you write a letter requesting the debt collector stop contacting you, and keep a copy of that letter for yourself. To ensure there’s no doubt the collector received it, you should consider sending the letter through certified mail with a return receipt requested. That way, you will have proof the letter was received.
Upon receiving your letter, the debt collector can contact you to confirm receipt of the request to stop reaching out to you or to inform you that legal action, such as the filing of a lawsuit, will be pursued. If you are represented by a lawyer and the collector has been informed of the lawyer’s contact information, the debt collector has to communicate such legal maneuvers through your attorney. If the collector cannot confirm a response from you lawyer within a sufficient amount of time, the debt collector may communicate the legal maneuver to you directly.
The FDCPA limits what debt collectors are allowed to say to other people about your debt. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, debt collectors are allowed to ask family or friends where you live, your phone number and where you work, but that’s all. They are not allowed to say they are attempting to collect on a debt.
If a debt collector calls your place of employment and your supervisor answers the phone call, the collector is prohibited from calling the business again unless the supervisor grants express permission for such calls.
Keep in mind that debt collectors should not call you at work at all if you have told them you are not allowed to receive calls while on the job.
The FDCPA holds tight reins on debt collector behavior. Debt collection laws prohibit collectors from threatening you with violence or harm or from using obscene or profane language. They cannot make repeated phone calls, one after the other. Lying about the amount of debt, alleging they are attorneys or government agents or falsely threatening to arrest you are misrepresentations that are not allowed by law. They cannot threaten to seize your property unless such action may be done legally under the debt’s specific circumstances.
Victims of violations of the FDCPA can receive help from qualified attorneys who can protect debtors from harassing, illegal debt collectors.
