A Detail Insight on The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is the federal law set for the debt collection agencies telling them how to act with the debtors. This law established the limitations for the debtors mentioning how they should work while collecting certain debts. This federal Fair Credit Reporting Act also covers the debt collection in the credit reports. Additionally, there are laws to provide the debtors with protection.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)

This act is the primary and principal federal law to govern the debt collection practice. It prohibits the debt collection companies from becoming abusive, aggressive, unfair, or following deceptive strategies for debt collection.

The FDCPA provides coverage to -

1. Mortgages
2. Credit cards
3. Medical debts
4. Other household debts

This FDCPA act is not for business debts. It does not also cover the collection owed to the original creditor or the person who had the debt first. Under the FDCPA act, the debt collectors involve the collection agencies, buyers, and debt attorneys who regularly work for debt collection as a business part. There are also third party debt collection agencies that buy debts from the creditors or the businesses and then collect them. The people or companies working for recovering debts are mentioned as debt collection agencies.

The debt collection practices

Time and Place – The debtors cannot contact you on odd hours or at unusual times, places, or a time/place that is inconvenient for you. Typically, the collectors cannot contact you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. Also, the debt collectors must know that they cannot contact a debtor during their work hours.

Harassment – The debt collectors are strictly prohibited from harassing the debtor or anyone else in the family by telephone or any other contact form.

Attorney representation – If the debt collector knows that an attorney is there to represent you, they should stop contacting you instead of contacting the attorney. This is relatively easy because the debtors have a huge database and can quickly get your attorney's contact details. Therefore, if a debt collector calls you from a debt recovery agency, you should tell them about your attorney and provide them with the contact details.

Warning

You can stop the debt collectors from contacting by requesting them. You can write them a letter asking them to stop contacting you. But if you tell a debt collector not to contact you that does not mean you are free from the owed debt. You still have to pay off the amount and the debt collector is free to take other legal routes for debt collection. Additionally, the collectors can also file a lawsuit against you.

A debt collector is bound by the law to tell you about the debt information while asking for the repayment of the owed debt. The information comprises the owed amount, creditor’s name, the collector can dispute the debt, name and address of the original creditor if that is different from the current creditor.

Suppose the debt collector does not give enough information while contacting you for the first time. In that case, they should send you an official notice in writing mentioning all the required information within the five days of initial contact.

The debtor can raise a dispute for the entire debt or for a partial amount. You can also request more information if you are unsure about the creditor's owed amount or how much is left for repayment.

Suppose you get involved in a dispute regarding the debt (all or partial) within 30 days of receiving the required information from the debt collector agency. In that case, the collectors cannot contact or call you for debt collection until they provide the debt verification in writing to you.

The debtor can also request the creditor to provide the original name of the creditor if the debt was sold. If the request is made within 30 days and the creditor does not provide the requested information, the debt collector should stop all the collection activities.

Patricia Hayden is a professional content writer and blogger from Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She is currently working with Vital Solutions Inc., a leading debt collection agency in the United States.