What Would Be Considered Violations Of The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act?

The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act or FDCPA are the rules that a bill collector or a collection agency must follow when trying to collect unpaid debt from you. There are things a creditor can do and things that they cannot do.

What Is Considered Illegal Or Harassment For A Creditor To Do?

1. FDCPA considers repeatedly or continuous calls as harassment. A creditor is not supposed to be calling you hundreds of times a day demanding payment. A collection agency is only supposed to be calling from 8am to 9pm daily. [15 USC 1692d] § 806(5)



2. A creditor is not supposed to be using profane, obscene or language that is abusive. Just because you are in debt does not mean that you need to be berated. [15 USC 1692d] § 806(2)


3. A creditor or collection company cannot ask you to pay more than what was borrowed. It is illegal for them to misrepresent what you actually owe. [15 USC 1692e] § 807(2)(a)

<

A Collection Agency or Bill Collector Cannot Threaten You Physically

4. It is illegal for a collection agency to threaten action they cannot or won’t be taking. A collection agency cannot threaten to file charges, garnish wages, sue, take property, ruin your credit or cause a job loss. In other words they cannot threaten to sue you if they really have no intention of going to court. [15 USC 1692e] § 807(5)



5. Threats of violence are not permitted if you are unable to pay a debt. Threats of physical harm are not permitted as debt collection activities. [15 USC 1692d] § 806(1)



6. Collectors are not allowed to inform a third party about your debt. As a tactic to try and collect a debt, a creditor my not contact your spouse, friend, parents or employer. The only parties a creditor may contact about your debt would be your attorney or creditor’s attorney. [15 USC 1692c] § 805(b)



A Creditor Is Not Allowed To Contact You At Work If Your Employer Does Not Permit It

7. A creditor may not contact you at work if your employer does not approve of it. Some employers just do not allow calls at work. [15 USC 1692c] § 805(a)(3)



What Is Debt Validation?

8. A collector has 5 days to send you a written debt validation notice from the first communication. It should include the name of the creditor, the amount of the debt and let you know about your rights to dispute the debt within 30 days. [15 USC 1692g] § 809(a) If you are paying the debt and have a request in progress, a creditor cannot ignore your written request if the notice was within the 30 days of the collectors written notice. [15 USC 1692g] § 809(b)

A little education can go a long way when you are dealing with debt collectors. The more they know that you know the law, they should back off. At the least they may put the aside the hardball collection tactics. If they go outside of the rules, they could be subject to a $1000 fine per incident. Knowing this you can take some control back in the process of paying off your debts.