The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
April 19, 2008
One of the most frustrating parts of falling behind on a debt is when the creditor loses patience in trying to collect on their own and sends your balance to a collector. You may have heard horror stories about collectors harassing borrowers who are struggling to pay off debts. Harassment was a technique that many collectors turned to historically to collect debts and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was put into place to protect borrowers with outstanding debt from abusive, illegal, and unethical collection practices. Consumers do have rights, and the Act defines these rights explicitly.
Prior to 1977 when the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was passed, debt collectors used several means to collect debts that were annoying, embarrassing, or even dangerous to borrowers. Some of the collector’s tactics included threatening phone calls in the middle of the night, showing up at a borrower’s place of employment, posing as an attorney, and going to great lengths to let other people know about the borrower’s financial struggles. The Act outlined several rules that debt collectors must follow, including:
