If I Am In Debt, Who Can A Bill Collector Contact About It?

The Fair Debt Collection Practice Act is a federal law full of rules and regulations that are designed to protect debtors from bill collectors who may utilize illegal strong arm tactics to collect money that is owed. The FDCPA seems to realize that one way many dishonest debt collectors may try to collect money is through embarrassment, and humiliation and therefore goes out of its way to provide a variety of rules designed to honor your privacy. Debt collectors have the ability to speak freely with credit bureaus and they have the authority to mark up your credit report.

But, if they have a list of creditor subscribers, they are expressly forbidden from sending out a list of its debtors to these businesses. They are also banned from advertising a debt that they intend to sell. In terms of third parties, debt collectors are not allowed to leave messages with third parties requesting that the consumer call them in regards to a debt. If a collections letter is being mailed out, they cannot indicate that the purpose of the letter is to collect a debt in anyway. Therefore, postcards are not permitted to be used by collection agencies.

Only if you reside at a shared address, or if you receive your mail at someone else’s address can a collector send you mail in care of another person. If you do share your address with others, the mail should have a “private” or “personal” label on it. It is crucial that collections letters do not give any appearance that allude to the fact that it is a collections bill.

A debt collector that is already aware of your name, telephone number and address and therefore can get in touch with you directly is never permitted to get in touch with your family members or friends. If they cannot find you and they do call your neighbors or family members, the debt collector has to identify themselves by name, but they can’t mention the fact that they are calling on behalf of a debt collection agency. They can’t let others know that you have a debt or speak to them about account details.

They are not permitted to contact the person more than once, and they cannot leave information about the debt on another person’s voicemail. Also, if they questioned, they have to disclose the name of the collection agency they represent but will not offer this information without first being asked.

If you are being contacted by a collector looking for your former roommate, relative or neighbor, the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act states that a bill collector can only contact you to find the location of the person in debt once. Only if the collector feels you have new information can they contact you again. If a collector contacts you repeatedly about a third party that can be considered harassment and you can file a complaint.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on nationwide collection agencies.