Your Credit Rights The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Author: Ty Crandall |
Most consumers have their rights violated by collectors commonly without even knowing it. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is designed to permanently stop harassing, unethical, and abusive debt collection practices.
Most consumers have their rights violated by collectors commonly without even knowing it. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is designed to permanently stop harassing, unethical, and abusive debt collection practices.
Knowing the important details of this act will help you stand up against abusive collection practices and stop collection companies from violating your rights.
There are many requirements debt collectors must abide by per the FDCPA law.
Debt collectors are not allowed to tell others details about the consumer including that they owe a debt, they cannot communicate with anyone other than the consumer more than once, not communicate through post card or have ANY markings on the outside of their envelope indicating they might be a debt collector.
Basically, collection companies cannot use the fact that they are a debt collector to bully you or strong arm you into paying.
They cannot identify themselves as a debt collector to your employer or anyone at your work, and they cannot send mail identifying that they are a debt collector with the intent of causing embarrassment or another hardship to you.
Debt collectors are can't call a consumer at an unusual time or place. This includes before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. A debt collector should not contact a consumer at their place of employment if they have reason to believe this is prohibited or looked at negatively by the employer.
They are also required to immediately cease all contact with you if you claim to be represented by and attorney, or if you notify them that you refuse to pay the debt.
There are many restrictions to stop abusive and harassing practices in the FDCPA also. Debt collectors are prohibited from using threats of violence or other criminal means to cause harm to the consumer in an attempt to collect on the debt.
The use of obscene language is prohibited along with the publication of information that the consumer allegedly owes the debt.
Debt collectors cannot cause a consumer's phone to ring repetitively with the intent to annoy or harass any person. And they have to clearly identify themselves on every phone call.
False and misleading representations are also prohibited per the FDCPA. These include the debt collector identifying themselves as an affiliate of the United States government, miss-representing the legal status of a debt, or that they are an attorney if they are not.
Your debt collectors cannot falsely represent that the nonpayment could result in the arrest or imprisonment of the consumer or the seizure of their property or garnishment of their wages unless such action is lawful and the debt collector intends on taking that action.
Creditors must have a documented history of taking these actions in the most cases if they are going to make threats of legal action against you.
Debt collectors are not allowed to communicate to any person credit information which is known to be untrue or in dispute. They also cannot falsely issue you documentation representing itself as coming from the courts.
They also are prohibited from using any false representation or deceptive means to collect a debt. They must identify themselves to the consumer as a debt collector and that the nature of the call is for that purpose.
Debt collectors cannot claim that they are directly affiliated with the credit reporting agencies per the FDCPA.
They cannot accept post dated checks of more than 5 days, or attempt to collect more than what is owed due to the original contract.
They must also send a written statement to each consumer within 5 days of contacting the consumer. This letter must contain the amount of the original debt, creditor's name, and many disclosures specific to FTC language.
Any violations within this act can be costly to the debt collector, especially in the civil and class action aspects.
To learn more about consumer credit laws and how they can help you challenge your creditors and win visit www.PerfectCreditFast.com.
Most consumers have their rights violated by collectors commonly without even knowing it. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is designed to permanently stop harassing, unethical, and abusive debt collection practices.
Knowing the important details of this act will help you stand up against abusive collection practices and stop collection companies from violating your rights.
There are many requirements debt collectors must abide by per the FDCPA law.
Debt collectors are not allowed to tell others details about the consumer including that they owe a debt, they cannot communicate with anyone other than the consumer more than once, not communicate through post card or have ANY markings on the outside of their envelope indicating they might be a debt collector.
Basically, collection companies cannot use the fact that they are a debt collector to bully you or strong arm you into paying.
They cannot identify themselves as a debt collector to your employer or anyone at your work, and they cannot send mail identifying that they are a debt collector with the intent of causing embarrassment or another hardship to you.
Debt collectors are can't call a consumer at an unusual time or place. This includes before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. A debt collector should not contact a consumer at their place of employment if they have reason to believe this is prohibited or looked at negatively by the employer.
They are also required to immediately cease all contact with you if you claim to be represented by and attorney, or if you notify them that you refuse to pay the debt.
There are many restrictions to stop abusive and harassing practices in the FDCPA also. Debt collectors are prohibited from using threats of violence or other criminal means to cause harm to the consumer in an attempt to collect on the debt.
The use of obscene language is prohibited along with the publication of information that the consumer allegedly owes the debt.
Debt collectors cannot cause a consumer's phone to ring repetitively with the intent to annoy or harass any person. And they have to clearly identify themselves on every phone call.
False and misleading representations are also prohibited per the FDCPA. These include the debt collector identifying themselves as an affiliate of the United States government, miss-representing the legal status of a debt, or that they are an attorney if they are not.
Your debt collectors cannot falsely represent that the nonpayment could result in the arrest or imprisonment of the consumer or the seizure of their property or garnishment of their wages unless such action is lawful and the debt collector intends on taking that action.
Creditors must have a documented history of taking these actions in the most cases if they are going to make threats of legal action against you.
Debt collectors are not allowed to communicate to any person credit information which is known to be untrue or in dispute. They also cannot falsely issue you documentation representing itself as coming from the courts.
They also are prohibited from using any false representation or deceptive means to collect a debt. They must identify themselves to the consumer as a debt collector and that the nature of the call is for that purpose.
Debt collectors cannot claim that they are directly affiliated with the credit reporting agencies per the FDCPA.
They cannot accept post dated checks of more than 5 days, or attempt to collect more than what is owed due to the original contract.
They must also send a written statement to each consumer within 5 days of contacting the consumer. This letter must contain the amount of the original debt, creditor's name, and many disclosures specific to FTC language.
Any violations within this act can be costly to the debt collector, especially in the civil and class action aspects.
To learn more about consumer credit laws and how they can help you challenge your creditors and win visit www.PerfectCreditFast.com.
Information:
The author: Ty Crandall is an international authoritative expert on credit scoring and credit law. He has over 12 years experience in the financial and credit sectors and is currently the CEO of Elite Credit Incorporated. To download more of Ty?s invaluable credit tips and for more information on credit scoring and credit repair for loan approval, please visit www.PerfectCreditFast.com.
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