Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Protecting Your Rights for Creditor Harassment

The Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law that was established in order to protect consumers from deceptive and abusive debt collectors. Just because you owe a creditor or debt collection company money, that entity does not have the right to harass you. There are various actions that debt collectors are prohibited from carrying out under the FDCPA, such as providing the debtor with misleading information, trying to intimidate the debtor with threats, or trying to harass the debtor through excessive phone calls.

If you have been harassed by a debt collector who has violated the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act, our bankruptcy attorney can help you take action. Proof of FDCPA violations can serve a strong defense in debt-related lawsuits, and it may even make you eligible for compensation from the law-breaking creditor or collection company. Our legal team can help you protect your consumer rights!

Consumer Protections Under the FDCPA

Here are just a few of the various debt collector actions that are banned under the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act:

• Making threats of violence or of criminal action against the debtor
• Using profane, obscene or otherwise abusive language when speaking to the debtor
• Using false or misleading representation of information concerning the debt, the debt collector's identity, the actions the debt collector is able to and plans to take upon nonpayment, etc.
• Calling the debtor over and over again in order to get the phone to ring constantly for the purpose of annoying or harassing the debtor
• Calling the debtor at hours that are unreasonable (before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.), or trying to meet with the debtor at locations that would reasonably be expected to be unusual or inconvenient for that debtor
• Using deceptive forms to collect debt (specifically forms that make the consumer falsely believe that another party is involved in the debt collection)