The Fair Debt Collections Act
Use This Potent Law To Stop Debt Collectors!

The Fair Debt Collections Act guidelines. While borrowing money is something that most of us will have to resort to sooner or later, the Fair Debt Collections Act protects us from abusive collection practices, especially when paying back the debt becomes a struggle.

Enacted by the US Congress in 1978, the law might as well be called the fair debt collectors act because it sets down the rules on what credit collection agencies and lenders can and cannot do to get payment.

By knowing everything about debt collectors and your rights as a debtor, you can discourage unprofessional treatment and seek immediate redress when you are subjected to it.

The Fair Debt Collections Act - Protection Against Unfair Creditors

Who Can Collect?

Under the Fair Debt Collections Act, creditors may get debt collector help from independent credit collection agencies to settle defaulted consumer debt on their behalf. These agencies assign individual debt collectors, some of whom are lawyers, who send out letters or make phone calls to inform debtors about the money that they owe and their obligation to pay.

What Are The Rules?

The thought of dealing with debt collectors is enough to raise the blood pressure of debtors who feel a mixture of embarrassment and the anxiety of getting humiliated in the encounter.

While it is normal to feel vulnerable in such a situation, debtors must know that collectors are constrained under the law against resorting to harassment and invasion of privacy.

Here are the strict guidelines for debt collection as mandated by the Fair Debt Collections Act:

1. Contact can only be made within the normal business hours, or from 8:00 a.m. up to 9:00 p.m. Calls may be made to your office, but they should not cause undue interruptions on your work or that of your office mates.

In the event that your employer disallows personal calls at the workplace, you must inform the debt collector of such a prohibition and the latter should comply.

2. Debt collectors must stop making any contact in relation to a particular debt after the debtor has sent a letter telling them to do so. The only time they can contact you again is to inform you of new developments in their effort to collect your debt.

3. Debt collectors may only contact you, your spouse, or your lawyer with regards to your debt. They are forbidden from talking to any third party such as your friends, neighbors, or office mates unless they have been issued a court order to do so.

In some cases, collectors may inquire about your whereabouts, but they must never mention that they are doing so because they are attempting to collect debt from you.

4. Debt collectors have to fully and properly identify themselves every time they make contact with debtors. However, they are not allowed to put any markings or logos outside an envelope that will identify them as a debt collector.

5. Debt collectors are prohibited from making any threats or false statements designed to insult or intimidate you.

6. Collectors must correctly state the amount that you owe and not charge unauthorized fees or interest.

These rules have been laid down under the Fair Debt Collections Act to protect you from unfair treatment when personal problems hamper your ability to pay your debts.

However, the same law reminds you to do to your share and exhaust all means to settle what you owe as soon as possible. That's what the word ‘fair' in the Act is all about.

The most important thing you can do to take control of your debts and get your future back on track is to do something. Take action. Starting Today, you will have the debt elimination knowledge and power in your hands to easily change your life financially!

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