A creditor may seek to collect an outstanding debt in several ways. However, because of “abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors,” (15 U.S.C. § 1692) Congress enacted the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in 1978, codified in 15 U.S. Code Subchapter V.
The FDCPA provides debtors with a means for challenging payoff demands, and for determining the validity and accuracy of asserted debts. 15 U.S.C. §1692g. Perhaps more importantly, however, the FDCPA establishes ethical guidelines for the collection of consumer debts. Congress targeted such behavior because it found that “[a]busive debt collection practices contribute to the number of personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs, and to invasions of individual privacy. ” 15 U.S.C. §1692.
“The FDCPA broadly prohibits a debt collector from using ‘any false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means in connection with the collection of any debt.’ 15 U.S.C. § 1692e.” The statute enumerates several examples of such practices, 15 U.S.C. § 1692e, as well as several examples of unfair practices, 15 U.S.C. § 1692f. The FDCPA also provides, for example, that debt collectors may not harass or annoy debtors, may not threaten debtors with arrest, and may not threaten legal action unless litigation actually is being contemplated. 15 U.S.C. §1692d.
The FDCPA prohibits debt collectors from contacting debtors before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m., but it does not prohibit debt collectors from contacting debtors on holidays or weekends unless they know or have reason to know that doing so would be “inconvenient” to the debtor. The FDCPA even gives debtors the right to demand that the third-party debt collector terminate all further communications, but the demand must be in writing. 15 U.S.C. § 1692c.
The FDCPA prohibits third-party debt collectors from contacting a debtor directly if they know the debtor is represented by counsel. 15 U.S.C. § 1692b.
Additionally, in their first communication with the consumer, debt collectors are required “to notify debtors about their ability to challenge the validity of a debt and to provide other basic information.” Foti v. NCO Financial Systems, Inc., 424 F.Supp.2d 643, 653 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) (citing 15 U.S.C. §1692g). This includes informing the debtor of their right to ask the collection agency to “validate” the debt.
In addition to administrative enforcement ( 15 U.S.C. § 1692l), the FDCPA provides for private rights of action against debt collectors, and permits debtors to recover actual damages, statutory damages, and attorneys' fees and costs for violations of its terms. 15 U.S.C. § 1692k.
Preliminarily, the FDCPA generally applies only to third-party debt collectors; the statutory scheme was not intended to cover the conduct of the original creditor. However, some states, such as California, have enacted consumer protection statutes that provide broader coverage than the FDCPA, and they may include the conduct of the original creditor within their sweep. The FDCPA permits such state laws. 15 U.S.C. § 1692n.
[Last updated in November of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]
