Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)

What Is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)?

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law that limits the actions of third-party debt collectors who are attempting to collect debts on behalf of another person or entity. The law restricts the ways that collectors can contact debtors, as well as the time of day and number of times that contact can be made. If the FDCPA is violated, the debtor can sue the debt collection company as well as the individual debt collector for damages and attorney fees.

How the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Works

The FDCPA does not protect debtors from those who are attempting to collect a personal debt. If you owe money to the local hardware store, for example, and the owner of the store calls you to collect that debt, that person is not a debt collector under the terms of this act. The FDCPA only applies to third-party debt collectors, such as those who work for a debt collection agency. Credit card debt, medical bills, student loans, mortgages, and other kinds of household debt are covered by the law.

Example of When and How Debt Collectors Can Contact Debtors

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act specifies that debt collectors cannot contact debtors at inconvenient times. That means they should not call before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. unless the debtor and the collector have made an arrangement for a call to occur outside of the permitted hours. If a debtor tells a collector that they want to talk after work at 10 p.m., for instance, the collector is allowed to call then. Without an invitation or agreement, however, the debtor cannot legally call at that time. Debt collectors may also send letters, emails, or text messages to collect a debt.

Debt collectors can attempt to reach debtors at their homes or offices. However, if a debtor tells a bill collector, either verbally or in writing, to stop calling their place of employment, the collector must not call that number again.

Within five days of contacting a debtor, the debt collector must send a written "validation notice" that includes:

Important

The FDCPA makes it illegal for debt collectors to use abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices when they attempt to collect debts.

Special Considerations

Debtors can also stop collectors from calling their home phones, but they must put the request in a letter and send it to the debt collector. It's a good idea to send the letter by certified mail and pay for a return receipt so that you have proof that the debt collector received the request.

If a collector does not have contact information for a debtor, they can call relatives, neighbors, or associates of the debtor to try to find the debtor's phone number, but they cannot reveal any information about the debt, including the fact that they are calling from a debt collection agency. (The collector may only discuss the debt with the debtor or their spouse.) Additionally, collectors can only call third parties one time each.

The law makes it illegal for debt collectors to harass debtors in other ways, including threats of bodily harm or arrest. They also cannot lie or use profane or obscene language. Additionally, debt collectors cannot threaten to sue a debtor unless they truly intend to take that debtor to court.