Fair Debt Collection Act

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or the FDCPA was enacted by the United States Congress in 1977. It was created in order to achieve the following:

1. To avoid any kind of abuse and deceit in debt collections. It aims to outlaw those that practice unfair methods of debt collection.

2. To ensure that debt collectors who are not employing abusive and deceitful debt collection practices are not given any kind of disadvantages. Law followers are protected and kept safe by this act.

3. To create sets of guidelines that are applicable to all the US states.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is applicable only to 3rd parties which services are required by a creditor, and not by a group of creditors that collect their own debts. If there is a creditor who uses a fake identity or pretends that he or she is a debt collector, he or she is still under the FDCPA and should abide by it. Let me give you an example: If a company named US Credit Card Agency collects payments from their credit card holders through phone calls and introduces itself as the US Debt Collection Agency, it would need to abide by the rules and regulations mentioned in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. On the other hand, if it collects them from their credit card holders by calling them up and introducing itself as the US Credit Card Agency, the company is not bound by the conditions of the FDCPA.
In some cases, there might be creditors that would not follow the rules. They might be doing their own debt collections, but they are still giving out threats and causing harassments to their debtors. Any one of these incidents might lead to a serious case. Any company which does this could be charged with crime. It is prohibited to threaten debtors and call them that they would be arrested if they fail to pay off their debts. Debtors who will experience these violations could file a complaint when any of those would happen to them.

There are times when the source of the debt of a certain debtor is caused by one of those frauds and scams. The creditors might not immediately believe the debtor when he or she would try to explain. Some of these creditors would even continue to bullying the debtor until they are able to make them pay their debts. Others would even go as far as scaring the debtor by telling him or her that they would call the police and make a criminal report. All of these are against the rules of the FPCDA.

If one day you find yourself in a situation that places you in the role of a debtor who is receiving threats and harassment from your creditors, do not forget about the FPCDA. You could determine what you would do to companies which say that they would have you arrested if you would not send them money as soon as possible. Your knowledge about this act would definitely be useful and helpful.