The purpose of this subchapter is to eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors, to ensure that debt collectors refrain from doing so. The FDCPA is a federal law that protects consumers from unfair or abusive debt collection practices. It gives you the right to dispute the debt. Control how and when a debt collector can contact you and what the debt collector can tell you. And it gives you the right to force debt collectors to leave you alone.
These issues are discussed in more detail on the following pages. Under this law (Title VIII of the Consumer Credit Protection Act), third-party debt collectors are prohibited from using deceptive or abusive conduct in the collection of consumer debts incurred for personal, family or household purposes. These collectors cannot, for example, contact debtors at odd hours, subject them to repeated telephone calls, threaten them with taking legal action that is not actually contemplated, or reveal to others the existence of debts. The FDCPA only applies to third-party debt collectors, such as those who work for a debt collection agency.
However, keep in mind that any practice that is intimidating or threatening constitutes a violation of the FDCPA. Exercising your rights under the FDCPA can help you take control of your relationships with debt collectors. Debt collectors violate the FDCPA when they make harassing, threatening, or misleading statements in order to coerce or trick you into pay a debt. If you believe that a debt collector has violated the FDCPA, you can contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) or your state's attorney general.
The FDCPA creates a structure within which debt collectors can work in an attempt to make debt collection a fair and non-aggressive process. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law that limits the actions of outside debt collectors who attempt to collect debts on behalf of another person or entity. The FDCPA makes it illegal for debt collectors to use abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices when attempting to collect debts. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) considers a physical visit to your workplace to be “publicizing your debt.” If the FDCPA is violated, the debtor can sue the debt collection company and the individual debt collector for damages and attorney's fees.
These are some examples of what the FDCPA would consider a prohibited practice for collecting a debt. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) debt collection rule clarifies the FDCPA's rules for how debt collectors they can communicate with debtors. However, if a debtor tells a bill collector, either verbally or in writing, to stop calling their place of work, the FDCPA says the collector should not call that number again.
