Bankruptcy

Fair Debt Collections Practices

Fortunately, the United States has a law protecting consumers from abusive and misleading debt collectors.

This law is called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This is a very effective law because it provides for "strict liability" which means that if the act is violated in any way the collector’s intent is irrelevant. Also the act provides for penalties against the debt collector of up to $1,000.00 per violation.

There is an entire industry of debt collectors in the United States because debt collection is big business. The great majority of the debt collectors who abuse and deceive the consumer are simply salespeople working on commission. Most of the abuse occurs because many consumers are simply not aware of their rights with regard to debt collection and allow themselves to be lied to, harassed, and wind up entering into very unfavorable repayment agreements. Once the collection process has begun an experienced attorney can quickly put an end to the harassing letters and phone calls. An attorney can also proceed to obtain punitive damages and attorney’s fees from the debt collector for any violations of the law.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits certain misleading behavior by debt collectors with regard to consumers and forces them to provide special warnings on all initial communications with consumers. The warnings attempt to educate the consumer about the debt collector and the process of collection. The act limits the manner of contact as well as the timing and content of the communication with a consumer or a third party. For instance, the debt collector cannot call the consumer repeatedly or after 9:00 p.m., also the communication must contain a warning in clear lettering that "this is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose." The debt collector may however contact your employer to determine your address and phone number but cannot call your job or your neighbors and destroy your reputation.

However, the Act only protects consumers, not businesses and it applies only to debt collectors who are collecting debts for someone else. Thus a person or company collecting their own debt is exempt. An experienced attorney can help determine if the act protects you.

This law is very complex, and requires careful analysis. For instance, the term consumer, debt collector, communication, and third party, are special terms which contain many exceptions. An attorney who is experienced with this area of the law should allow you to determine weather your rights as a consumer were violated, and if so how many violations have occurred. Platt & Westby, P.C., has attorneys experienced in this area. During our free consultation the attorney should be able to determine if your rights under the act were violated.

Contact our office to speak with an experienced Arizona business law attorney at Platt & Westby.