The FDCPA defines a debt collector as anyone who regularly collects, or attempts to collect, consumer debt for another person or institution or. Under the FDCPA, debt collectors can include collection agencies, debt buyers, and attorneys. Any debt collector covered by the FDCPA who contacts you regarding a debt must provide you with certain information about it. 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. Section 803 (of the FDCPA) defines a “debt collector” as “any person who uses any interstate commerce instrument or the mail in any business whose primary purpose is the collection of any debt, or who regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts due or overdue or that he claims to owe or owe to another. So, for those accounts, Green Tree donned the extra hat of “debt collector subject to the FDCPA.” Therefore, in addition to the allegations made under Article 5, the lawsuit accused them of violating the FDCPA, including illegally garnishing consumers' paychecks and disclosing the existence of debts to people other than debtor. The FDCPA also states, for example, that debt collectors cannot harass or annoy debtors, cannot threaten debtors with arresting them, and cannot threaten legal action unless litigation is actually being contemplated.
The FDCPA even gives debtors the right to require that the outside collector cancel all other communications, but the demand must be made in writing. But what about a debt that is in default? According to the FTC and several federal appellate courts, if the debt was in default when the company obtained it, the company's activities to collect it are covered by the FDCPA. If the FDCPA is violated, the debtor can sue the debt collection company and the individual debt collector for damages and fees of a lawyer. The FTC has gone to court to challenge FDCPA violations committed by companies that used other names to collect their own debts.
The FDCPA covers the collection of debts that are primarily intended for personal, family, or household purposes. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) considers a physical visit to your workplace to be “publicizing your debt.” The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law that limits what debt collectors can do when they try to collect certain types of debts. First, the FDCPA generally applies only to third-party debt collectors; the legal scheme was not intended to cover the conduct of the original creditor. The FDCPA prohibits debt collection companies from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect debts from you.
The FDCPA provides debtors with a means to challenge payment demands and to determine the validity and accuracy of the declared debts.
