Introduction

If you owe somebody money and they are trying to collect it from you, you may have rights under federal law.

This pamphlet summarizes the rights you have under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. ß 1692 et seq. [FDCPA].  It is not intended to serve as a complete list of your rights as a debtor.  If you have any questions, please contact ASUA legal services.

Who is a Debt Collector?

• Collection agencies collecting consumer debts
• Creditors using a false name to collect a consumer debt
• Anyone collecting a consumer debt for a third person
• Repossession companies

• Creditors and their employees
• Retail stores, banks, finance companies
• Government employees
• Business creditors [business debt collection is not covered]
• Nonprofit credit counseling services

What They Can't Do

• Contact you at inconvenient times [generally this is after 9:00 pm or before 8:00 am]
• Contact you at inconvenient places, for example: a neighborís home, a hospital, or a funeral parlor
• Work is often an inherently inconvenient place, for example: restaurant workers, assembly line workers, and nurses
• Contact you at work if they know that your employer prohibits such contact.
• Contact you if they know you are represented by an attorney
• Inform most other people about your debt.  The only people they can tell are your attorney, a credit reporting agency, the creditor, your spouse and co-debtors
• Harass, oppress or abuse you [these terms are too broad to define here, but include things like repeatedly telephoning you , intending to annoy you]
• Threaten you or anyone else with violence
• Threaten you with criminal means to harm your reputation or property
• Advertise your debt for sale to coerce payment
• Call you without disclosing their identity
• Use false, deceptive, or misleading collection practices
• Falsely imply that they have a connection to the government
• Falsely represent the character, amount or legal status of a debt
• Falsely imply that they are an attorney
• Threaten unlawful or unintended action
• Communicate or threaten to communicate false credit information to someone else
• Fail to disclose that the information they collect from you will be used to collect a debt from you
• Use a business name other than their true business name
• Use unfair or unconscionable collection means [these terms are too broad to define here]
• Repossess or threaten to repossess property when they do not have a legal right to do so
• Communicate with you by postcard
• Fail to notify you within 5 days of their first contact with you of your right to request validation of the debt

What You Can Do

• Insist that all contact be in writing.  Send all correspondence by certified mail, return receipt requested.  Keep all copies of everyting.
• Hant upl the phone if the debt collector persists in calling.  There is no law that requires you to speak to a debt collector.
• Stop the bill collector from contacting you be making a written request to the collector.  Make sure to send it by certifies mail.
• Request validation of the devt by writing to the devt collector withing 30 days of their first contact with you.

For More Information

Call Student Legal Aid
621- ASUA

or visit these web sites:

•  National Consumer Law Center
•  Debt Counselors of America
•  Consumer Aid Education Center