The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) prohibits creditors from collecting debts unfairly. What does this mean? In short, debt collectors are not allowed to harass, annoy, threaten or lie to debtors in order to coerce payment from them. Of course, there are a multitude of specific situations that could fall under the umbrella terms, "harassment and abuse." That's why the FDCPA has an extensive list of specific practices and situations outlawed by the act. Under the FDCPA, "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."
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This includes threatening debtors in any way. Collectors are not allowed to threaten debtors with physical violence, threaten to harm their personal property, or threaten to damage their reputation. This includes talking to neighbors, co-workers, or family members about the debt or attempting to embarrass the debtor in any way. Additionally, creditors are not allowed to use profane language, or any language intended to abuse or demean its recipient. Incessant phone calls may be considered harassment, too. If a creditor continually calls you with the intention of annoying or harassing you into paying your debt, he/she is violating the FDCPA. In the case of special circumstances, creditors are not allowed to place telephone calls without disclosing their identity.
Creditors are also prohibited from falsely identifying themselves. The FDCPA says that "a debt collector may not use any false, deceptive or misleading means in connection with the collection of any debt." For instance, a debt collector is not allowed to misrepresent him/herself as an attorney or other legal professional. Similarly, your debt collector is not allowed to pretend like he/she is communicating on behalf of a lawyer. Creditors are not allowed to threaten a specific legal action if they do not intend on taking it or cannot legally take such an action. For instance, a creditor cannot say "If you don't pay me now you'll go to jail for the rest of your life!" Statements like this are not legally feasible.
Other practices are considered false and misleading, too. For instance, collectors cannot use any written communication that simulates an official, legal document. Conversely, a debt collector may not try to convince you specific, important documents are not actually part of the legal process and do not require any action on your part. This will create additional legal trouble for the debtor and is prohibited in the FDCPA. Pretending that a document is from a United States government agency, or any state agency is illegal and strictly prohibited by the FDCPA. The debt collector may not use the name of any company, organization or business that he/she is not actually affiliated with. Specifically, the collector may not pretend to be associated with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or FDCPA.
According to the FDCPA, "a debt collector may not use unfair or unconscionable means to collect or attempt to collect any debt." This includes, collecting money that is not expressly permitted by the debt contract or debt agreement. Also, collectors may not deposit or threaten to deposit any postdated checks or payment before the date written on the check of payment. Additionally, debt collectors are not allowed to communicated with consumers via post card, or use any language or symbol (besides his/her own address) on an envelope when communicated with a consumer via the postal service. In this situation, the debt collector may place his/her business name and location on the envelope. If you have been harassed by a debt collector, the FTC encourages you to speak with an attorney - you may be entitled to damages for your losses.
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