Congress enacted the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in 1977 to protect consumers from abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices. In doing so, Congress explicitly recognized "that every individual, whether or not he owes the debt, has a right to be treated in a reasonable and civil manner."

The validity of the underlying debt, i.e., whether the consumer owes the alleged debt, is normally not relevant to the debt collector's liability for a violation of the FDCPA.

WHAT PERSONS AND WHAT TYPES OF DEBTS ARE COVERED BY THE FDCPA?

The FDCPA protects consumers.

For the purposes of the FDCPA, a consumer is any natural person obligated or allegedly obligated to pay any debt.

The FDCPA applies to attempts to collect a debt.

A debt is any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay money arising out of a transaction in which the money, property, insurance or services which are the subject of the transaction are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.

Examples of the types of debts that the FDCPA applies to include:

1. Court judgements against a consumer
2. Bounced checks
3. Credit Card bills
4. Medical bills

However, the FDCPA protections do not apply to:

1. Income tax
2. Business loans
3. Child support

The FDCPA governs the activities of debt collectors.

A debt collector is any person who regularly collects, or attempts to collect, debts owed to, or asserted to be due, another. To be a debt collector, a person must also make use of either interstate commerce or the mail in his debt collection business. An attorney can be a debt collector. The creditor itself, i.e., the person to whom the debt is owed, is not defined as a debt collector in most circumstances.

WHAT ARE A DEBT COLLECTOR'S OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE FDCPA?

The FDCPA requires a debt collector to send a consumer a written notice containing certain warnings. This notice is sometimes referred to as the validation notice because its purpose, from the debt collector's perspective, is to warn the consumer that if the debt is not disputed by him, then the debt collector will assume that the debt is valid. The validation notice must include:

1. The amount of the debt;
2. The name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed;
3. A statement that unless the consumer, disputes the validity of the debt, or any portion of it, then the debt will be assumed to be valid;
4. A statement that if the consumer disputes the debt within 30 days, then the debt collector will verify the debt with the creditor, and that a copy of the verification will be mailed to the consumer;
5. A statement that upon written request by the consumer within the thirty day period, the debt collector will provide the consumer with the name of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.
   

The FDCPA prohibits:

1. The threat to take any action that cannot legally be taken or that is not intended to be taken;
2. A debt collection communication sent under the false representation that it is from an attorney;
3. Any false, deceptive, or misleading representations made when attempting to collect a debt, such as, misrepresenting the amount, character, or legal status of a debt, representing that non-payment will result in arrest, imprisonment, seizure, garnishment or sale of a consumer's property;
4. Harassment and abuse. (Examples of such conduct include the threat of violence, obscene profane language, the publication of a list of debtors, the advertisement of a debt in order to coerce payment, repeated telephone calls, and calls without disclosure of the caller's identity);
5. Communicating with a consumer at a time or place known to be inconvenient to the consumer, communicating with relatives of the consumer other than a spouse, communicating with the consumer's employer.
   

DAMAGES

A consumer who has been the victim of illegal collection practices may be entitled to recover actual damages and attorney fees. It does not matter if the debt was really owed or not.

CONTACT AN ATTORNEY

If you feel that you have been the victim of illegal collection activities contact us. For more information call 1-888-331-6422.

New Ohio Fair Credit Area

When it comes to protecting your credit record, fighting to keep debt collectors honest and fair, and defending your consumer rights and repossession rights, we’re here to help you. And we've added a Ohio Fair Credit  section to inform you.