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:

• Phone Calls: Collectors are allowed to contact borrowers via mail, fax, telegram, or phone, but calls must be made between the hours of 8AM and 9PM local time.
• Third Parties: If you have hired an attorney to help with your debt problems, a collector must contact the attorney with all communications. The collector is also not allowed to disclose the fact that the borrower is in debt to anyone outside of the situation.
• Written Notice: A collector must give written notice with all applicable details of the debt they are seeking to collect within 5 business days of contacting the borrower.
• Harassment: A collector is not allowed to abuse or harass borrowers, including posing as an attorney or credit bureau employee, share your debt problems with other people, threaten to have you arrested or your wages garnished, or sue you when they have no intention of taking such action.

For borrowers, passage of the Act was a consumer rights issue. Prior to the Fair Debt Collection Act being passed, borrowers were subjected to poor treatment from collectors who would use any means necessary to force payment. Consumers now have the right to fight back. If a collector violates the terms of the fair debt collection act, borrowers can sue collectors for damages on top of court costs.

Opponents of the Act say that frivolous lawsuits have made debt collection more difficult. Some borrowers with legitimate debts make it very had for collects to do their job. Frivolous lawsuits have emerged as borrowers hope to be awarded damages even when the rules of the Act are followed. Consumers should know their rights, but should also know that they are responsible to pay their debts. If debt collectors are contacting you, it's a good idea to discuss your situation with a credit counselor or an attorney instead of fighting debt collectors through loopholes in the Fair Debt Collection Act.