Consumer Credit Protection Act and the FDCPA
Consumer Credit Protection Act and the FDCPA
Contrary to popular belief, the three major credit bureaus are not a division of the federal government. They are independent for-profit companies that operate under the regulations and restrictions of federal consumer protection laws. These laws govern proper account billing, collection practices, and credit reporting. The following is a brief explanation of how they protect you.
You can protect your own credit by being aware of the legal facts regarding your consumer credit protection rights. The umbrella of these federal protections is the Consumer Credit Protection Act. This is a federal law designed to protect consumers from harmful credit practices. The law regulates consumer credit agencies, collections agencies and creditors. It prevents credit discrimination and helps victims of identity theft.
The Consumer Credit Protection Act contains 5 important sections:
1. The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) 2. Debt Collection Practices Act 3. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) 4. Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) 5. Equal Credit Opportunity Act All too often consumers have their credit damaged unjustly as a result of misinformation being placed in their credit file. Have you ever received a bill and didn't know what it was for? Billing errors can damage your credit standing, even if they didn't belong to you! The Fair Credit Billing Act was enacted in 1975 to protect consumers from billing errors, so that they can be resolved expeditiously and in a fair manner.
The law protects you from incorrect charges or charges for goods and services that were not accepted or delivered as agreed. In addition to resolving billing errors, it also protects you against fraud in the event of charges made by persons not authorized to use the account. The law also provides that a creditor may not report an account delinquent to a credit reporting agency while there is a dispute that has been filed by the borrower or party involved.
Some other rights you have from the FCBA are: The right to challenge a billing error with a creditor, the right to have a creditor respond within 30 days and correct or verify within 90 days. The right to not have disputed accounts reported as delinquent. The right to report an account as "in dispute". It's also important to know your rights with regards to getting contacted by the dreaded bill collectors. Third-party collection agencies are regulated by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act outlines what a debt collector can and cannot do in collecting a debt for others. Following is a list of things they must refrain from when collecting a debt. They are not allowed to:
1. Contact you before 8:OOAM or after 9:OOPM, unless you agree. 2. Contact you at your place of employment if your employer doesn't approve. 3. Contact you by phone after you send written notice to an agency to stop, except to state that there will be no further contact, or to notify you that specific action will be taken if that specific action is usually taken by the collector. In that event, your account will probably be referred to an attorney immediately. 4. Contact anyone but your attorney if you have one. Otherwise, a collector may contact other people only to determine where you work or live. 5. Tell people that you owe money, except you or your attorney. 6. Advertise your debt or publish a list of non-payers, except to credit bureaus. 7. Harass, oppress, or abuse any person. This includes activities such as the use or threats of violence/harm to property or a person's reputation, use of obscene or profane language, repeated use of the telephone to annoy someone, or telephoning without identifying themselves. 8. Make false statements when collecting a debt, such as falsely imply that they are an attorney or government representative, falsely imply that you have committed a crime, falsely imply that they work for a credit bureau, misrepresent the amount of debt, indicate papers are legal when they are not. 9. Fail to give you written notice within five days after their initial contact with you, telling you the amount owed, the name of the creditor, and what to do if you feel you do not owe the money. 10.Contact you about the debt if you deny owing the debt within 30 days after being contacted, unless you are sent proof of the debt. 11.Imply or say that you will be arrested for nonpayment. 12.Say that they will take legal action unless the creditor intends to do so, and that it is legal. 13.Give false credit information about you to anyone. 14.Send you official-looking documents that appear like documents a court or agency of any United States government body might send. 15.Use any false name. 16.Deposit a postdated check before the date of the check. 17.Make you pay for communications, such as collect calls or telegrams. 18.Contact you by postcard that could advertise your debt, or put anything on an envelope that shows the communication is about the collection of a debt, including the company name. 19.Fail to apply amounts to the specific debts you choose.
There are also many other protection laws and items in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and other consumer protection acts.
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