Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - Know Your Rights As A Debtor
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Working with creditors and debt collection agencies is definitely a difficult ordeal. Their frustrating and persistence way of tracking you down no matter where you are could be extremely irritating for you, your family as well as your fellow colleagues.
Fortunately, to protect the overly abused debtors, there is the Fair Debt Practices Act or the FDCPA in short. It's a federal law that bans unfair debt collection practices that will have an effect on the quality of debtors' life significantly.
While this article does not list the whole act, it is great to understand the common illegal debt collection practices so that you won't be intimidated and know how you can deal with them.
1. Contact third parties such as your families, friends, neighbors or employers regarding your debt. Except if the court has granted them permission for your creditors to do so, it is illegal for them to contact third parties about your debt. But they may contact third parties for the purpose of locating you. Even so, creditors should not discuss why they're looking for you, except if you're a minor.
2. Speak to you at odd hours of the day - late night or very early in the morning. Under normal circumstances, any time between 8am to 9pm is a suitable time for them to call. Under no situation should your creditors contact you when you are sleeping, for example at 3am.
3. Contacting you over and over again by phone or not identifying themselves when they call.
4. Continue to contact you when you are represented by a lawyer or when they have received a written request from you to cease calling you. ( a cease letter)
5. Make threats, use obscene, profane or abusively languages and comments on you.
6. Misleading you that they are affiliated with any state or federal government, or the legal status of your debts.
These are only some of the common illegal debt collection practices. The FDCPA bans nearly any abusive, dishonest and unfair debt collection practices that might have an effect on the quality of your life significantly.
To find out much more with regards to your rights as a debtor, go to www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm for more information. It is definitely good to be aware of your rights as they give you a means of handling your creditors such that they do not exploit you. Nevertheless, realize that the purpose of the FDCPA would be to assist you to take care of creditors and not to ignore them and your debts.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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