6. Illegal Debt Collection Practices
The federal Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) prohibits a collection agency from engaging in many kinds of activities. (15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq.) If a collection agency violates the law, you have the right to sue both the agency and the creditor that hired the agency. If the behavior is truly outrageous, the creditor may waive the debt and remove the negative marks from your credit file in exchange for your agreement not to sue.
Under the FDCPA, a collection agency cannot legally engage in any of the following:There are a few exceptions to this general rule.
Collectors are allowed to contact:
• Your attorney. If the collector knows you are represented by an attorney, it must only talk to the attorney, not you, unless you give it permission to contact you or you attorney doesn’t respond to the collector’s communications.
• A credit reporting agency.
• The original creditor. Collectors are also allowed to contact your spouse, your parents (only if you are a minor) and your co-debtors. But collectors cannot contact these people if you have already told them (in writing) to stop contacting you.
Communications with you. A collection agent cannot contact you:
• at an unusual or inconvenient time or place— the debt collector must assume that calls before
8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. are inconvenient unless she knows otherwise, or
• at work, if she knows that your employer prohibits you from receiving collections calls at work—if you are contacted at work, tell the collector that your boss prohibits such calls.There are a few exceptions to this general rule.
Collectors are allowed to contact:
• Your attorney. If the collector knows you are represented by an attorney, it must only talk to the attorney, not you, unless you give it permission to contact you or you attorney doesn’t respond to the collector’s communications.
• A credit reporting agency.
• The original creditor.
Collectors are also allowed to contact your spouse, your parents (only if you are a minor) and your co-debtors. But collectors cannot contact these people if you have already told them (in writing) to
stop contacting you.
Taken From : Credit Repair by Attorneys Robin Leonard and Deanne Loonin
