Illegal Debt Collection Practices Under the FDCPA

The FDCPA (15 U.S.C. §§ 1692 to 1692p) requires that a collection agency make certain disclosures and prohibits the collector from engaging in many kinds of abusive or deceptive behavior. Here are some collection actions prohibited by the FDCPA.

Communications With Third Parties
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For the most part, a collection agency cannot contact third parties about your debt. There are a few exceptions to this general rule. Collectors are allowed to contact:

Your attorney. If the collector knows you are represented by an attorney, it must talk only to the attorney, not you, unless you give it permission to contact you or your attorney doesn’t respond to the agency’s communications.

A credit reporting agency.

The original creditor.

Collectors are also allowed to contact your spouse, your parents (only if you are a minor), and your co-debtors.
But they cannot make these contacts if you have sent a letter asking them to stop contacting you.

There is one other exception. Debt collectors are allowed to contact third parties for the limited purpose of finding information about your whereabouts. In these contacts, collectors:

* must state their name and that they are confirming location information about you

* cannot identify their employer unless asked

* cannot state that you owe a debt

* cannot contact a third party more than once unless required to do so by the third party, or unless they believe the third party’s earlier response was wrong or incomplete and that the third party has correct or complete information

* cannot communicate by postcard

* cannot use any words or symbols on the outside of an envelope that indicate they are trying to collect a d bt (including a business logo or letterhead) if either would give away the purpose of the letter, and
cannot call third parties for location information once they know an attorney represents you.

Communications With You
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A debt collector’s first communication with you must tell you that he or she is attempting to collect a debt and that any information obtained from you will be used for that purpose. In subsequent communications, the collector must tell you his or her and the collection agency’s name.

A collector cannot contact you:
* at an unusual or inconvenient time or place—calls before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. are presumed to be inconvenient (but, if you work nights and sleep during the day, a call at 1 p.m. may also be inconvenient)
directly, if it knows or should have known that you have an attorney, or

* at work if it knows that your employer prohibits you from receiving collections calls at work. (If you are contacted at work and you are not allowed to have personal calls at work, tell the collector that your boss prohibits such calls.)

Harassment or Abuse
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In general, a collection agency cannot engage in conduct meant to harass, oppress, or abuse.

Specifically, it cannot:
* use or threaten to use violence
harm or threaten to harm you, another person, or your or another person’s reputation or property

* use obscene, profane, or abusive language
publish your name as a person who doesn’t pay bills (child support collection agencies are exempt from this in some states)

* list your debt for sale to the public

* call you repeatedly, or

* place telephone calls to you without identifying the caller as a bill collector.

You never have to put up with harassment. Just hang up the phone, or put the receiver down (without hanging up) and walk away.

False or Misleading Representations
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A collection agency can’t lie.

For example, it can’t:

*claim to be a law enforcement agency or suggest that it is connected with the federal, state, or local government (a collector making this kind of claim is probably lying, unless it’s trying to collect unpaid child support, or it’s a private check diversion program under contract with a district attorney)

* falsely represent the amount you owe or the amount of compensation the collection agency will receive

* claim to be an attorney or that a communication is from an attorney

* claim that you’ll be imprisoned or your property will be seized, unless the collection agency or original creditor intends to take action that could result in your going to jail or your property being taken

* threaten to take action that isn’t intended or can’t be taken—for example, if a letter from a collection agency states that it is a “final notice,” it cannot write you again demanding payment

* falsely claim you’ve committed a crime

* threaten to sell a debt to a third party, and claim that, as a result, you will lose defenses to payment you had against the creditor (such as a breach of warranty)

* communicate false credit information, such as failing to state that you dispute a debt

* send you a document that looks like it’s from a court or attorney or part of a legal process if it is not

* use a false business name, or claim to be employed by a credit bureau, unless the collection agency and the credit bureau are the same company.

Unfair Practices
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A collection agency cannot engage in any unfair or outrageous method to collect a debt.

For example, it can’t:

* add interest, fees, or charges not authorized in the original agreement or by state law

* accept a check postdated by more than five days unless it notifies you between three and ten days in advance of when it will deposit the check

* deposit a postdated check prior to the date on the check

* solicit a postdated check for the purpose of then threatening you with criminal prosecution

* cause you to incur communications charges, such as collect call fees, by concealing the true purpose of the communication

* threaten to seize or repossess your property if it has no right to do so or no intention of doing so
communicate with you by postcard, or put any words or symbols on the out­side of an envelope sent to you that indicate it’s trying to collect a debt.