Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Protecting Creditors from Harassment and Aggressive Collection Techniques

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was put in place to protect consumers from aggressive practices that have become more and more common from collection agencies. The FDCPA states that collection agencies may not call late at night, contact your friends, family or co-workers, or (in most situations) contact you at your place of employment.

Why does the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act matter to me?

The FDCPA is a strict liability law, meaning that a consumer does not have to prove actual damages in order to file a claim. You need only show that the collection agency called or mailed a letter when or where it wasn’t supposed to. If you feel that a collection agency has violated the FDCPA, and would like to know if you have a valid claim for statutory damages of up to $1,000, contact the lawyers at Anderson & Associates. You could recover damages for each and every telephone call or letter/postcard that violates the FDCPA.

We will take the time to understand your claim and will advocate on your behalf to attempt to make a recovery under the FDCPA.

What are examples of Violations under the FDCPA?

Generally speaking, a collection agency cannot call you before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m local time, if you have asked them to stop, or if they are aware that you are being represented by an attorney. They are also not allowed to engage in abusive or profane language in the course of communications with you. Any action taken by a collection agency meant to embarrass you (calling co-workers, friends and family and making them aware of the debt) is generally prohibited and a violation under the FDCPA.

When CAN a debt collector contact a 3rd party (friends, family or co-workers)?

Debt collectors may communicate with someone other than the consumer so long as they:

1. Clearly state that they are only calling to confirm or correct information about the location of the consumer
2. Do NOT state that the consumer owes any debt
3. Do NOT communicate with any person more than once unless requested to do so.
4. Do NOT communicate by postcard (meaning that all written communication needs to be inside of an envelope)
5. Do NOT use language or any symbol that suggest that the written
   material is regarding a debt.
6. Communicate ONLY with the attorney once they are aware that the
   consumer is represented by an attorney.

Harassment and Abuse from Collection Agencies

The FDCPA lays out several behaviors that are prohibited under any circumstance. Generally any type of conduct by a collection agency that is meant to harass, oppress or abuse any person in connection to the collection of a debt is prohibited. Specific behaviors that are prohibited in the FDCPA:

1. Threat or use of violence, or any other means to harm a person, property or a person’s reputation.
2. The use of obscene or profane language.
3. Public lists of consumers who refuse to pay debts.
4. Advertisement for sale of any debt to coerce payment of the debt.
5. Causing a telephone to ring or calling repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse or harass.
6. Making calls without the meaningful disclosure of the caller’s identity.

Again, if you feel a collection agency or other company attempting to collect a debt from you has violated the FDCPA, do not hesitate to contact the lawyers at Anderson & Associates to discuss your situation.

Tracking Contacts from Aggressive Collectors

One of the most important steps in making a claim under the FDCPA is keeping track of collection activity. If you feel like a collection agency representing one or more of your creditors is crossing the line, start keeping records. We have prepared a collection activity spreadsheet for you to print and fill out to track questionable collection contacts.

Click here to open the collection activity spreadsheet.