If you are irregular in paying your debts or if you stop paying your debts, the debt collectors come to the fore. They start making harassing collection calls to you and sometimes they resort to various tactics to collect debts from you. However, if you opt for profit or non profit debt consolidation program or debt settlement plan, the debt collectors can not lawfully make any harassing collection calls to you. Anyways, in order to protect your interest, there is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The main target behind the formulation of this act is to curb all types of coercive practices in order to collect unpaid debts and as well as to promote fair debt practices. Different types of debts and loans which come under the purview of this law include credit card bills, medical bills, home loan and auto loans. With this act, you have been given the right to dispute and validate debts so as to ensure accuracy of information.

If you default in paying debts, your creditor may employ a third party to collect debts from you. However, the third party who is responsible for collecting the debts from you has to abide by certain principles as stipulated by the FDCPA act. Some of the FDCPA violations are listed below.

Time of telephone contact

As per the FDCPA guideline, your debt collector can not contact you before 8 am in the morning and after 9 pm at night.

Calling you at your work place

If you give a notice to the debt collector that communicating with you at your work place is unacceptable by your employer, then the debt collector is not legally allowed to call you at your work place.

Abuse, harassment or resorting to oppressive means

As per the FDCPA law, debt collectors should use any offensive or profane language while communicating with you. Again, the collection agency can no way threaten you of arresting or taking legal action. Apart from these, the practice of communicating you with embarrassing media such by post card, symbol etc is legally prohibited.

Concealing or misrepresenting identity

While contacting you, the debt collectors first should reveal their identity. Concealing identity while contacting you for debt collection is illegal. Sometimes, debt collectors misrepresent them as an attorney or law enforcement officer. However, these practices are not allowed by the FDCPA act.

All these have been kept in the FDCPA act in order to promote fairness in the debt collection practice and to protect the interest of the debtors.