The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Declaration Of Purpose:

An abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive, and
unfair credit collection practices by many debt collectors led
to the declaration of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
The purpose of the Act, approved in September 1977, was to
eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors
and to promote consistent state action to protect consumers
against debt collection abuses and invasions of individual
privacy.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act laid down specific
guidelines pertaining to the following procedures:

1. Acquisition Of Information [Sec 804]
Any debt collector seeking to acquire location information of a
consumer would identify himself and his purpose correctly and if
the need arises also disclose his employer. At no point during
the inquiry process shall the collector state or imply that a
consumer owes any debt, as this shall amount to invasion of
individual privacy. Once the enquiry process has been
completed, any correspondence thereafter shall be with the
attorney of the said consumer only.

2. Communication With the Consumer [Sec 805]
The debt collector may not communicate with the consumer at any
such place or time, which may be known to be inconvenient to the
consumer. If the collector has information that an attorney
represents the consumer, then any communication with the
consumer should be done only if the attorney fails to respond
to the collector's communication.

3. Abuse Or Harassment Of The Consumer [Sec 806]
A debt collector may not engage in any conduct the natural
consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person
in connection with the collection of a debt. A collector may not
resort to acts of violence or threats thereof in order to coerce
the consumer into obliging to the collector.

4. Misrepresentation For Debt Collection [Sec 807]
A debt collector may not use any false, deceptive, or
misleading representation or means in connection with the
collection of any debt. The debt collector may not represent or
in any way implicate that nonpayment of the debt will result in
the arrest or imprisonment of any person or the seizure,
attachment or sale of any property of any person unless such
action is lawful and the debt collector or creditor intends to
take such action.

5. Debt Validation [Sec 809]
Within five days after the initial communication with a
consumer, the debt collector shall send the consumer a written
notice containing the exact amount of debt, the name of the
creditor and the due date of payment.

6. Civil Liability [Sec 813]
Any debt collector who fails to comply with any provision of
this act is liable to such person in an amount equal to the
extent of actual damage to the consumer and may be liable to
pay the consumer the defendant attorney's fees reasonable in
relation to the work expended and costs.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act provides guidelines for
all kinds of debt collection. For all debt collectors, be
in-house or collection agencies, it is must to understand the
act and stay within the legally permitted boundaries. The Fair
Debt Collection Practices Act has enough provisions for
collection agencies and departments to help them get the dues
from the debtors legally.


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