The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law that protects debtors against abusive collection tactics by debt collectors. Congress created the FDCPA to prohibit debt collectors from using unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices when collecting consumer debts. The FDCPA generally only applies to third-party debt collectors, not to original creditors. A creditor is defined as the person or entity that granted you the credit in the first place (the original lender).).
The FDCPA only applies to third-party debt collectors, such as those who work for a debt collection agency. The law covers credit card debt, medical bills, student loans, mortgages and other types of family debt. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is the primary federal law governing debt collection practices. The FDCPA prohibits debt collection companies from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect your debts.
Government officials and employees are also excluded. The FDCPA exempts any federal, state, or local government official or employee who collects or attempts to collect a debt while performing official duties. These legal provisions provide flexibility to debt collectors (and creditors), but they also allow debt collectors and creditors to act with discretion and make decisions regarding compliance with the FDCPA and Regulation F. If you believe that a debt collector has violated the FDCPA, you can contact the Consumer Financial Protection Office (CFPB) or your state's attorney general. In addition to regulating third-party debt collectors subject to the FDCPA, Regulation F has a number of implications for creditors.
Nearly five years after beginning regulatory efforts, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) finalized the first and second parts of its debt collection regulations under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”). Regulation F provides protection against the FDCPA's prohibition of disclosing unauthorized information to third parties if a debt collector follows certain reasonable procedures when sending emails and text messages to consumers. Because the FDCPA is designed to protect debtors from third-party debt collectors, it usually doesn't apply to the original creditors. So, for those accounts, Green Tree donned the extra hat of “debt collector subject to the FDCPA.” In addition, the FDCPA does not apply to business debts, to government agencies that collect debts, or to individuals who are not regularly engaged in the business of debt collection.
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 fees. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law that limits what debt collectors can do when they attempt to collect certain types of debts. The FDCPA covers the collection of debts that are primarily for personal, family purposes or domestic.
