Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: Know Your Rights

Feeling harassed by a debt collector? It might be violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This federal law protects you from harassment, threats and misleading information from debt collection agencies. Learn your rights under the FDCPA and how to report FDCPA violations.

Key takeaways

• The FDCPA tells debt collection agencies when and how they can contact you to collect overdue debt. You can report FDCPA violations to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). You can also sue the debt collector in federal, state or small claims court.
• The FDCPA only regulates third-party debt collectors, or debt collection agencies. It does not apply until your original creditor sells your debt to a debt collection business.
• The FDCPA does not eliminate or reduce your debt. If you sue over FDCPA violations and win, you may still owe your debt. But you may be awarded money in the form of damages.

How does the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) work?

Enacted in 1978, the FDCPA prohibits debt collectors from using abusive, misleading, deceptive and unfair tactics to collect defaulted debt.

Initially, the FDCPA primarily focused on phone calls and in-person visits. In 2020, the CFPB amended the act to include electronic communication, like text messages, emails and social media posts.

5 ways the FDCPA protects consumers

1. Limits how and when a third-party debt collector can contact you

If you’re getting debt collection calls at all hours of the day and night, your debt collector could be violating the FDCPA. Debt collectors can’t:

• Call you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., unless you say otherwise
• Call or email you at work unless you give permission.
• Stop you from opting out of debt-related text messages and emails
• Directly message you on social media after you ask them to stop
• Post publicly on social media about your debt
• Call you more than seven times in seven days

2. Prohibits harassing and abusive practices

Not only does the FDCPA dictate how debt collectors can contact you, it also regulates what they can say. Debt collectors cannot:

• Threaten you, whether it be a physical threat, a threat to harm your reputation or a threat to damage your property
• Use obscene and profane language
• Publish lists of people who owe debt
• Call without disclosing that they are a debt collector (with some exceptions)

3. Forbids debt collection by false, deceptive or misleading means

Debt collectors are not allowed to lie to get you to pay. For example, debt collectors can’t:

• Falsely claim to work for the government or law enforcement, or that they are an attorney
• Lie about how much you owe or your debt’s legal status
• Threaten legal action when no legal action can or will be taken
• Forge documents to make it look like they are coming from an official government agency
• Fail to advise you that they are a debt collector and that they are contacting you in an attempt to collect a debt

4. Stops unfair debt collection practices

This primarily focuses on how debt collectors can collect what you owe. They cannot:

• Collect anything more than the principal, interest and fees that are part of your debt agreement, or what is permitted by law
• Repossess or threaten to repossess your property, unless legally allowed to do so
• Accept a check that is post-dated more than five days without notifying you in writing
• Make threats in order to get you to write a post-dated check
• Cash or threaten to cash a post-dated check early
• Send mail with anything on the envelope that shows that it is a debt collection letter

Requires the debt collector to “validate” your debt

Within five days of first contacting you, the debt collector must send you a debt validation letter. This letter must contain:

• The debt collector’s name and billing address
• The name of the creditor you owe
• How much you owe, including interest and fees
• Steps you can take if you think the debt is not yours
• Your debt collection rights

You have 30 days to dispute the debt if it isn’t yours. If you don’t dispute it within 30 days, the assumed debt now belongs to you.

What kind of debt does the FDCPA cover?

The FDCPA doesn’t protect you from all collections calls. The FDCPA does not apply to debt collection attempts by the original creditor. For instance, if you’ve missed payments with your credit card company, the FDCPA doesn’t apply if the credit card company itself calls you.

When you have delinquent debt, your original creditor may eventually sell it to a debt collection business. If it does, that’s when the FDCPA kicks in.

Aside from that, here are the types of debt that are covered and not covered by the FDCPA.

What to do when a debt collector calls

If you’re sick of dealing with debt collectors (or just want some professional help), consider hiring a lawyer. Once you’re represented by an attorney, the debt collector has to work with them and stop contacting you. If you can’t afford a lawyer, you might qualify for free or low-cost legal aid.

In the meantime, know that debt collector calls are a minefield. It’s possible to say or do something that can make your situation worse.

Don’t give out or confirm information at the start

When a debt collector first calls you, do not give out any of your personal information. Do not confirm whether the info they have is yours, either. Instead, ask for the company’s name, address, website and phone number.

Once you have this, get off the phone and research. If the company looks legit and the debt they mentioned makes sense, call the number listed on the company’s website.

Don’t admit that the debt is yours

Don’t say whether the debt is yours, even if you think it is. Instead, ask for a debt validation letter. Under the FDCPA, the debt collection agency has five days to send the letter. In this letter, you’ll find how much you owe, information about the original creditor and more.

Don’t ignore the problem

When you get your debt validation letter, you have 30 days to take action. Ignoring the problem could get sued by debt collectors or get your wages garnished.

• Check the statute of limitations. Some debt has a statute of limitations. This is called time-barred debt. Debt collectors can no longer sue once time-barred debt is old enough, but they can call about it. In some states, even admitting that the debt is yours or making a partial payment restarts the clock and makes you responsible again.
• Negotiate your debt. The debt collection agency might be willing to negotiate how much you owe if your debt is very old. Something is better than nothing, right? You could hire a debt relief company, but try to negotiate yourself first.
• Go no-contact in writing. If you don’t want to speak to the collection agents anymore, tell them in writing. At the time of publishing, you can find sample letters on the CFPB website. However, the debt collection agency can still sue you for the debt.