Fair Debt Collection Practices Ac (FDCPA - part 1)

November 2, 7:39 PMDebt ExaminerKerry Selfridge

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The FDCPA, or Fair Debt Collection Practices Act of 1977, was introduced to the United States by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC, as well as Congress, saw a need to protect consumers from third party debt collectors and agencies.

As cited from the FTC FDCPA documentation, 15 USC 1692, "There is abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors. Abusive debt collection practices contribute to the number of personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs, and to invasions of individual privacy." This is still unfortunately true.

After many years of this set of laws and regulations there are still "holes." These holes do not only hurt the consumer, they hurt the collectors as well. At this point it is not the concern to address the holes that do affect the collector.

When a debt collector calls a home, the collector is not permitted to use any forms of unfair practices. Unfair Practices contain the following, but are not limited to: collecting any amount other than rightfully owed, accept a payment that is postdated more than five (5) days unless the consumer is notified in writing three (3) to ten (10) days in advance of the intent to deposit, causing additional fees by concealing the actual purpose,  threatening OF ANY SORT (unless the collector is able and prepared to take the action against the consumer by all applicable state and federal laws), communicating by post card, and using any language or symbol other than the debt collectors address on any envelope when communicating with the consumer in regards to a debt, and lastly, if the debt collectors name indicates that they are a debt collector, they are prohibited from placing it on the outside of the envelope.

In the FDCPA, there are terms left undefined, the one of most concern is "harassment." Harassment is undefined, but it is not harassment for a collector to call once daily, if they make contact with you, unless your state statutes provide more strict regulations. Harassment is a state of perception, if you feel that an agency is harassing you, there is a simple sentence that will get the day to day calls to stop, "Do NOT call me." When you state that simple statement, you are entitled a 10 day period with no phone calls.