Are you knee deep in delinquent credit card debts and getting continuous threat calls from the collector? Well, you can get rid of threat calls, social and legal harassment and avoid unwanted situations and illegal debt collection practices with Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or FDCPA. You may also refer to http://www.goldenfs.org/debt-relief/ to know about different credit card debt relief options.
FDCPA makes illegal some collection methods used by different collection agencies. Some points are discussed below to help you understand what the collectors can do and what they cannot.
Know your rights
If you have a debt which would soon go to a collection agency or are already dealing with a collector, you must know what a debt collector can do and what cannot. You can use these laws to defend yourself; if the collector violates the laws you can make use of the violation for a better settlement, lodge a complaint with Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) or simply sue the collection agency.
FDCPA doesn’t apply to creditors
You must know that FDCPA applies to collectors only; it doesn’t apply to the credit card companies though some states have specific laws in regards to what creditors can do in order to collect outstanding debts.
Illegal debt collection practices
Here are some collection practices prohibited by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Third party communications
In general, collection agencies can’t contact any third party for your debt, but there are some exceptions. The collector can contact,
- Your lawyer if they know that you’re represented by a lawyer
- A credit reporting agency
- The creditor
The collector can also contact your parents (if you’re a minor), spouse or your codebtor. But they can’t do so if you have already forbidden them.
Communication with you
A collector can’t contact you,
- At any inconvenience place and time. Calls after 9 pm and before 8 am is considered to be inconvenient.
- Directly if you’re represented by an attorney
- At work if the collector knows that you can’t take collector’s calls at your workplace.
Abuse or harassment
Generally a collector can’t engage in any activity that is meant to oppress, harassment or abuse. They can’t,
- Harm you or threat you to harm you and your property and reputation
- Use violence or threat to use violence
- Use slang or any abusive language
- Publish your person as a defaulter
- Call you again and again
- List your debts for sale to public
- Place calls to you without introducing the caller as a bill collector
You don’t need to put up with any sort of harassment. Just drop the call and put the receiver down and walk away.
Misleading representations
A collection agency can’t,
- Claim that it is connected with local, state or federal government; it also can’t claim to be a law enforcement agency
- Claim that the communication is from an attorney
- Claim to be a lawyer or an attorney
- Misleadingly represent your debt amount or the compensation amount that the agency will get
- Claim that your property can be seized or you will be behind the bar unless the agency or the credit company wants to take legal action that could send you to the jail or garnish your property
- Claim misleadingly that you have committed a crime
- Threaten to take an action that can’t be taken actually
- Threaten to sell your debt to a third party
- Take misleadingly about your credit information
- Use a fake business name
- Claim to be appointed by a credit bureau unless the credit bureau and the collection agency are the same
Discussed above are some important points that you must know about how you can defend yourself with FDCPA. You can also get help from http://www.goldenfs.org/ to make your life debt-free.
