| Fair Debt Collection Practices Act |
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The FDCPA prohibits third-party debt collectors from employing deceptive or abusive conduct in the collection of consumer debts incurred for personal, family, or household purposes. Such collectors may not, for example, contact consumers outside of the hours of 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM local time, subject consumers to repeated telephone calls, threaten consumers with arrest or legal action that is not actually contemplated, or reveal to or discuss debts with third parties. The FDCPA does not stop collectors from contacting consumers on holidays or weekends, unless the collector knows or has reason to know that calls at a particular date or time are inconvenient to the consumer. The FDCPA generally only applies to third party collectors--not the original creditor's internal collectors, although some states, such as California, have similar state consumer protection laws which mirror the FDCPA but provide addtional coverage for creditors. The FDCPA allows consumers to request that all communication be stopped provided that the consumer issues the request in writing. A consumer may also demand that a debt collector stop contacting them at their workplace by simply advising the debt collector that the employer does not pemit collection calls to the workplace or that the calls are inconvenient. Debt collectors who persist in making workplace contacts thereafter may be sued by the consumer in state or federal court under the FDCPA. The FDCPA provides for recovery in court of a consumer's actual damages, statutory damages, attorneys' fees, and court costs. It is a Strict Liability law, which means that a consumer need not prove actual damages in order to claim Statutory Damages , and it allows a jury to award such damages in an amount of up to $1,000 if a collection agency is proven to have violated the FDCPA. Some consumer groups argue that the FDCPA does not go far enough, and does not provide sufficient deterence against unscrupulous collection agencies. Some in the collections industry, conversely, have taken the stance that the FDCPA goes too far. The Federal Trade Commission produces an annual report to Congress of its findings with respect to its FDCPA enforcement activities. This report details consumer complaints to the FTC about alleged collection agency violations of the FDCPA. There were more than 66,000 consumer complaints made to the FTC about unlawful collection activities in 2005. This was an overall increase of more than 14% over 2004. Consumers have a right to bring a private lawsuit against third-party debt collectors who harass, oppress, or abuse them in the course of collecting consumer debts. The Washington, D.C.-based National Association Of Consumer Advocates or NACA.net is the largest consumer advocacy organization in the United States. Its member attorneys bring thousands of such FDCPA suits each year in virtually all 50 states. The collection industry is likewise supported by a vigorous industry group based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, called ACA International or ACA . The ACA produces a variety of legal compliance materials for the debt collection industry as well as lobbying for legal and interpretive reforms which assist its members in the lawful collection of debts for creditor clients. The ACA is also involved in a variety of consumer outreach and education activities related to the collection industry. Debt collectors, and the consumer rights attorneys who sue them for violations of the FDCPA, rely heavily on the definitive legal treatise on the FDCPA produced by the National Consumer Law Center or NCLC.org . EXTERNAL LINKS
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